


Akatsuki Sakura AU

by moor



Category: Naruto
Genre: Akatsuki Sakura AU, Dark, Drama, Konoha-verse, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2020-04-06 02:42:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19053613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moor/pseuds/moor
Summary: DeiSaku, ItaSaku. Konoha-verse AU. Akatsuki Sakura AU. Raised by Uchiha Madara as part of the Akatsuki, Sakura is sent to infiltrate Konoha's ranks. Things become complicated when she is promoted to a team with one of Konoha's most well-respected ANBU captains, Uchiha Itachi.





	1. Chapter 1

Deidara’s blue gaze held her eyes as they heard her name called, ordered, from a room further down the hallway. **  
**

“You don’t have to go,” his low, quiet voice urged.

“Liar.” Sakura tried to make her voice light, but there was tension in every inch of her body and it came through in her tone.

“We can request a transfer. You can move to our team—or take over Tobi’s position,” he insisted. “Think of the benefits.”  
  
“We’ll see,” Sakura replied with a faint smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

With that, she rose from her stool beside his at the kitchen table and calmly went to meet their Leader.

* * *

 

“Tomorrow morning?”

Sakura nodded, not looking over at Deidara.

“Tomorrow,” expletive, “morning!? What the hell is with that, huh?”

Still packing her things into a small bag, Sakura’s shoulders slumped. “It is my mission, Deidara. I accepted. I need to go.”

“But you left Konoha years ago—they consider you dead! How does Leader expect you to infiltrate and blend in when you haven’t been there since you were a child?”

“I have a better chance than anyone else,” Sakura said simply, finally turning to him. “It is up to me alone this time, Deidara. I can’t take you with me.” She tried to smile at him. “I wish I could.”

“Did Leader say how long you’d be gone?” Deidara asked after a moment, trying to find anything that would make the situation less painful.

Sakura's face fell knowingly, and the light left Deidara's eyes.

“…Long term?”

“To settle there, become acclimatized, naturalized, gain a respectable position – preferably close to the Hokage or one of the Clans – and turn one of their top shinobi against them?…” she sighed. “I think it’ll take at least a long weekend,” she tried for levity.

“Don’t joke about this,” Deidara said darkly, his hands clenching into fists at his side.

Beside Deidara, Sakura could feel the dark chakra rolling off him in ever-increasing waves; she could feel him hurting.

“He’s punishing me,” Deidara murmured. “This is because of what happened in—.”

“No.” Sakura touched Deidara’s face, tried to guide him with her fingertips until he was focused on her again. “No,” she repeated forcefully. “This is because of who, and what, I am, not what you did. I was chosen for this mission. I need to complete it. And to do that, I need to go to Konohagakure, that’s all.”

“We won’t be able to communicate for a while. They’ll have you under surveillance,” he mumbled unhappily, closing the distance between them.

“I know. But I’ll send word to you if I need to be extracted.” Dropping her bag to her bed, her fingers dug into the mesh shirt he wore, fisting at his chest.

Deidara chuckled darkly. 

“I know, but it’s all I can think of for now,” Sakura muttered ruefully. They both knew that if she was found out, she wouldn’t make it out of the village alive, or even have time to send a message.

“You’re planning on coming back, though, right?” Deidara asked hesitantly.   
  
“Idiot,” Sakura scolded him, tipping her face up to mock-glare at him. “Akatsuki’s all I’ve ever known, ever since I was a kid. This organization is my family. You are a part of me. I could never leave that behind.”

Sakura felt Deidara’s warm breath on her cheeks as he stared down at her from his advantaged height; his eyes were dark, thoughtful… and getting darker as his hands rose to settle on her hips. When one of the mouths on his hand slid open and a tongue slowly trailed across the exposed skin of her hip, she felt a wonderful shiver.

“You’ll never forget me,” Deidara said smoothly, and his usual brash cockiness reappeared in his eyes, lighting them mischievously. “You’ll miss me, yeah.”

“Someone’s confident,” she teased, glad he was pulling out of his funk.

“We’re unforgettable, Sakura,” he breathed against the crook of her neck, nuzzling kisses up her elegant jawline into her pink hair. “I’ll make sure you think of nothing but me while you’re away, until the moment you come back.”

Sakura’s fingers loosened from Deidara’s shirt to meet behind his neck, threading into his long, silky hair. She smiled, her eyes closing.

“Oh really? You think you can keep me distracted that long?”

“Yes,” he said into the soft, sensitive skin of her cheek, his lips kissing a trail to the corner of her mouth. Inside her, the heat began to pool and spread through her blood.

Sakura’s stomach heated and flip-flopped inside her, her anticipation mounting as Deidara’s hands rubbed tantalizingly up her sides, under the hem of her own fitted, mesh-knit shirt.

“I could never forget you, Deidara.”

“Damn straight you won’t.”

With a laugh, Deidara reached down and grabbed Sakura's legs, hitching her up with a quick motion so her thighs tightened around his trim waist.

“What time do you leave?” he demanded, kneading her toned legs as he walked them backward to her bed. He kicked the door shut on his way. His hands formed the signs for her locks and traps automatically. There would be no interrupting them. 

Sakura's cheeks flushing as her feelings surged, and she tried to think through the lust-fog that clouded her mind.

“Dawn,” she gasped as Deidara bent forward to suck on her pulse.

“Good,” he smirked.

Deidara was determined to make excellent use of their last hours together.

* * *

Madara, Sakura’s foster-father, met her in the early hours of the morning as she prepared to leave the Akatsuki stronghold, as the first light broke through the trees.

“You understand your mission?” he asked. His long, dark hair covered one of his eyes, though the other was focused intently on Sakura.

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you have any final questions?”

Sakura thought a moment. How long was she allowed before she was considered a failure, or worse, a traitor? Was there some reason, other than her Konohagakure heritage, that made them choose her for this mission? When would she hear from them again?

“No, sir.”

Madara nodded at her.

“Good. See to it you are successful.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Sakura?”

She gave him her full attention, as always.

“Be careful of the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans. They are known to produce tensai-class shinobi.”  
  
Her targets. Of course.

“Yes, sir. Your great-grandson is one, correct?”

“Yes.” There was something lurking behind his casual tone, but she did not pry. If there was something to know, he would have told her.

Lifting her chin, Sakura nodded. “I will not fail.”

Madara’s proud, and as malevolent as ever, smirk of satisfaction crossed his scarred features, and she felt some sense of accomplishment that he trusted her with this mission. She was one of the few who had ever seen behind his mask and ‘Tobi’-persona. To her knowledge, only she and Leader knew who he truly was – and she only knew because he had taken her under his wing when she’d been adopted as a child, before many others had been inducted into their ranks.   
  
Even Deidara, the Akatsuki member she was closest to, did not know. And he and Tobi were partners. It had never occurred to her to divulge Tobi’s true identity to him. It was just the way things were in Akatsuki – everyone had their own agendas and history. It was at their discretion to reveal the cards they held.

“Then I will see you when I return, sir.”

With that, she bowed slightly to him in respect – and was surprised when she felt him touch her shoulder.

It was a slight pressure, a gentle squeeze, and his hand retracted before she knew it making her think she may have imagined the silent support.

But she knew he had.

“Goodbye, father,” Sakura added more softly, her heart squeezing just a hint as she walked away from the only person she could remember as her ‘family’.

It would be several days before she reached Fire country.

* * *

The day she arrived at Konohagakure’s gates was bright, cheerful—the birdsong and wildlife that serenaded her as she approached the massive entrance helped her maintain a sense of peace and calm in the face of her ultimate goal: becoming a Konoha kunoichi.

Twenty-year-old Sakura took a meditative breath as the gates came into sight, and forced herself to remain so as a male voice called out to her to stop where she was and present herself.

 _Here goes_ , she thought to herself determinedly, and began her cover story.

* * *

 

“Her family was traveling to visit relatives when they were attacked by rogue-nin,” began the chuunin as he recited Sakura’s story to his supervisor. “We do have a record of the attack—she was listed as missing and presumed dead at the time.”

“Well someone certainly missed something when they investigated,” broke in the accusatory tone of their commander. “Do we know for sure it is her?”

“Physical description matches, and we’re waiting on the second round of DNA results.”  
  
“Second round?”

“The first round confirmed she was who she said she was, however we ran second trials, as a precaution.”

The supervisor nodded while their commanding officer scowled.

“How could we have missed a child during that investigation? It was horrific, but it was led by ANBU ops. They should have done a body count and identity-check at the very least, before they cauterized the area.”

“We’re re-opening the file, sir.”

“And?”

“And we’ve already sent a team of jounin out to verify her whereabouts over the past 15 years.”

“How she ended up in a new village, a shinobi village at that, and then that village was attacked… that’s a lot to take in,” the supervisor spoke for the first time. “Is she a kunoichi?”  
  
“We believe so. We have detained her until she receives clearance, and once her story has been verified then her skills will be evaluated. She was moderately armed when she arrived, and voluntarily surrendered her weapons upon request.”

“Still doesn’t cross her out as a potential spy,” the CO remarked.

The reporting chuunin wisely kept mum.

The CO and supervisor looked at each other a long moment, thoughtfully reviewing the evidence.

“What does she want?” the supervisor finally asked.

“She has asked if she can re-patriate to Leaf, as she has no family left.”

“Better than her going rogue,” the CO mused aloud. “If she has any skill, it will be to Konoha’s benefit.”

“All right,” the supervisor sighed, eyeing the darkening sky outside the small window that lit the disorganized office. The entire affair was troublesome. “Pending the second round of DNA results—which probably won’t be any different than the first—she is granted temporary landing status while we evaluate her application. She will be tested by Academy officials to determine her rank, and given probationary status as a Leaf-nin at the genin-level until the investigation into her previous history is concluded. I expect this will take at least 3 months, but should be concluded by 6. At that time, we will reconvene and discuss further action, if and as necessary.”

“Yes, sir. I will notify the guards that she is to be detained in the holding facility until an Academy official comes to evaluate her skills.”

“Her movements and communications are to be monitored at all times over the next 6 months,” added the supervisor, and the CO nodded in agreement.

“Yes, sir.”

* * *

 

And that was how Sakura came to be standing before Shiranui Genma the next afternoon, her hair neatly tied back in a sleek ponytail while he grinned at her around a senbon.

“I hear you’re our new genin,” he began, his hands in his pockets as his eyes roved over her lazily.

“You don’t look like much of a sensei,” Sakura replied, appraising him just as openly, though with a different intention. “Also, please meet my entourage,” she flipped a hand casually behind her to indicate her ANBU escort.

“It’s a pleasure.” Genma’s innuendo never ceased, causing her to roll her eyes mildly. “So, what can you show me? You’re kunoichi-trained, from what I hear. What is your rank?”

“We didn’t have ranks, exactly – we were trained mostly in defensive arts, to protect the village,” Sakura stated, warming her muscles with a few stretches as she spoke. Her bright green eyes glanced around the training area. She inclined her head towards the training dummies at the other end of the arena. “May I have some shuriken or a few kunai?”

Genma tossed a bag of weapons at Sakura's feet, and made to walk towards the center of the dirt-floored training area. “How close do you need to be? They’re all the way at the other end, and generally we start closer to the—.”

“Right here is fine.”

And with that, she hurled half a dozen of the throwing stars at the targets—hitting each in the dead center.

Genma’s eyes bugged as his mouth went slack.

Sakura ignored him and whipped out several kunai, planting them deeper into the targets, still in their middles.

With a mild pout, she dropped her arm and gave it another stretch. “Sorry, I’m a bit out of practice. That last kunai is a bit off-center.”

Swallowing over his surprise as he turned away from the targets to look at her again, Genma shook his head.

“How’s your ninjutsu?”

Sakura smiled.

* * *

“She has an affinity for genjutsu and earth techniques,” Genma relayed that night to Shikamaru in the latter’s office. Genma had returned Sakura to her detainment facility, offering to take her out for a drink if and when she was cleared. She’d laughed and waved goodbye in a friendly manner.

“Her ranking?”

Here Genma paused, uncomfortable.

“Shiranui.”

“… Possibly special jounin, or even S-ranked,” Genma said lowly. “I can’t be sure without engaging.”

This was a surprise to Shikamaru.

And not a particularly welcome one, either, Genma thought as he noted the thoughtful look in Shikamaru’s normally bored eyes.

“And yet she isn’t in any of the Bingo books, and claims she was only trained in defensive techniques?” Shikamaru drawled.

“She has an extensive knowledge of katon jutsu,” added the senbon-chewing shinobi offhandedly. “Does that help?”

Shikamaru refused to react. “How extensive?”

“Normally only a certain clan practice that many. In fact, some seemed pretty darn close to clan-specific katon jutsu. You’d need to ask them to be sure.”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes in irritation. Fantastic. Just who he wanted to involve.

“All right. Send Hatake Kakashi to evaluate her higher-level skills tomorrow – and double her ANBU guard for that session. I’ll speak to the Uchiha clan to see if we can ‘borrow’ one of their higher-level shinobi observe things and get their opinion.”

Genma nodded and tipped the make-believe brim of his hat as he took his leave.

Chin in hand, Shikamaru called over a chuunin from outside his office and sent him to ANBU HQ to locate their most decorated ANBU captain. If anyone knew the Uchiha clan’s techniques, it was him.

* * *

Staring up at the ceiling of her room—cell was more like it—Sakura tried not to worry about her situation. She’d known it would take a bit of time before she would be accepted into Konoha society, but she’d hardly stepped into the village itself yet. She’d been detained at the gates and questioned daily—sometimes several times about the same events, as if they expected her to change her story—and now she was going to have her skills tested—again—to determine her rank.

Sakura was finding it hard to remain patient at times.

Especially when she had to put up with that Genma’s leers. Her skin crawled slightly in recollection. Looking back on it, perhaps she shouldn’t have shown him as many of her jutsu as she had, or as much of her skill level, but she’d been sick of his condescending attitude and looks… and making him just a teensy bit afraid of her had come naturally to her. It was just what she was used to doing to keep away those who took a passing fancy to her—scaring them off through intimidation. It was usually enough to get rid of unwanted attention, when she was part of the Akatsuki.

And once she and Deidara had become involved, she hadn’t even noticed anyone else.

Deidara.

Sakura’s heart tightened in her chest a moment as she thought of him. His bright, lively eyes, his arms around her, waking up next to him as he held her to his side. The way he challenged her to become better as a ninja, the way he dragged her out of her misery on her bad days. His wild, manic behaviour…

 _Two weeks and already you’re going soft?_ Inner Sakura chided her.

 _No,_ she argued back mentally. _Just… lonely_.

Inner Sakura was blessedly silent at that.

* * *

The unwelcome intrusion of someone into her cell woke Sakura in the middle of the night, though she remained still and silent in her bed, her eyes closed and her breathing level.

Not someone…  _someones_.

She sensed multiple chakra signatures and wondered what their purpose was. Sakura didn’t sense any aggression in their movements or formation, but she was unarmed and uncomfortable being outnumbered in any situation.

“Sit up slowly, Haruno-san,” ordered one voice. “You are not asleep.”

Raising her arms to show she was complying, she slowly sat upright and waited for further instructions.

“We are here to escort you to a training facility where you will be evaluated on combat-level techniques. Dress quickly.”

With that, the signatures withdrew and she was left alone again.

In the middle of the night? She thought to herself, wondering what was going on and why the testing would be conducted with such secrecy.

Not wanting to be caught in any state of undress, however, she kept her questions to herself and was adjusting her leg guards when her ANBU-guard returned.

“Follow us.”

* * *

Once they were outside the building, Sakura was blindfolded, the tie secured with a sealing jutsu. She was carried through the village on the back of one of the ANBU. Obviously, they didn’t want her to know where she was going, and she had to fight down a sense of panic when she heard heavy doors opening and closing, and felt the air pressure around her change as she was put down and pushed down a hallway that obviously led underground.

When she arrived at the end, she heard doors opening again and felt fresh night air on her face. Relief flooded her a moment until she realized she was surrounded by at least a dozen chakra signatures. The blindfold was removed, and Sakura faced four squads of ANBU guards.

“Yo.”

Startled, Sakura turned to find a jounin-level shinobi with silver hair casually waving to her in a friendly manner. The majority of his face was covered by a mask and only one eye was exposed – but that eye was creased in a happy-go-lucky way. The Copy-Nin, Hatake Kakashi, she realized, remembering her Bingo book notes about Konoha-nin.

“Good evening,” she replied, unsure how much to give away. Her cover, she had to maintain her cover. She had a mission to complete.

“Nice night, isn’t it?”

“A good night to spend relaxing with friends,” Sakura said, and he chuckled, understanding she was including the surrounding ANBU.

“They’re just here to watch a friendly match. Are you prepared?”

“I have no weapons.”

“Then you’ll need to be creative,” Kakashi said, still with that damnable eye-crease.

Sakura’s eyebrow twitched in irritation.

So they wanted her to expose her jutsu, did they? She wanted to groan. Great. And she would be fighting the great Copy-Nin as her ‘welcome’ interview.

Kakashi didn’t leave her time to complain long, though, as he brought his hands together to form the initial seals of a water-jutsu, almost faster than Sakura could see.

Sakura steeled herself for the onslaught, her hands already rising to form their own seals for a defensive earth-jutsu.

The battle was on.

From a jutting wall above them, two pairs of eyes observed their spar.

“So?” asked Shikamaru with a yawn, his eyes never leaving the ninja below them.

Uchiha Itachi watched the exchange of fire-jutsu, and while his expression remained impassive, his eyes hardened.

“Yes, they are Uchiha-clan techniques. Some look to be adaptations of very old techniques we no longer use, but the roots are there. She has been trained by a Konoha shinobi—and quite probably someone from my clan.”

“Troublesome,” muttered the strategist. “Any idea who?”  
  
Itachi shook his head. “I know of no Uchiha who reside outside Konoha.”

Sakura broke a genjutsu Kakashi cast almost before he finished setting it, and set off on an array of impressive taijutsu.

“May I ask who she is?”

Surprised by the Uchiha’s interest, the younger man considered his reply. “She is a refugee asking for sanctuary. She used to be a Konoha citizen—civilian—was orphaned, then raised by another village, and following the destruction of that village, returned to Konoha.”

“It would be worth investigating her teacher,” advised the crimson-eyed ANBU captain.

“We’re working on it.”

“She is no refugee,” remarked the Uchiha thoughtfully after a few moments had passed. “She could easily earn a living as a missing nin. She is holding back against Kakashi. You can tell him to use his full potential against her to test the full extent of her skill, and we may be able to trace any signature jutsu she uses.”

“She has no record in the Bingo books, no affiliations with any of the known shinobi villages or countries.”

Itachi’s crimson eyes never left the battle below them.

“What are your plans?”

Shikamaru sighed. “We’re stuck,” he admitted. “She was a Konoha citizen. But we haven’t been able to trace her history. She’s obviously skilled, and possibly S-classed – but has no record of her experience or how she came to acquire such lethal skills. She hasn’t made any move against Konoha, yet it’s too suspicious that she suddenly showed up here out of the blue asking to be instated as a nin. We can’t turn her away, because if she were to turn against us, she’d be potentially dangerous.”

“Hn.”

They watched the confrontation below them a few minutes longer in silence.

“She could be instated with the rank of chuunin provisionally, and after a probationary period, apply to take the jounin or ANBU exam, if she was interested.”

“She’d pass, easily.”

“Yes, if she was patient enough. In the meantime, observe her routines, her relationships. Do not let her leave the village unattended.”

“I have to admit, I really do hope she’s on our side. It would be very troublesome otherwise.”

Nodding faintly, Itachi couldn’t help but smirk. “Not up for the challenge?”

“Not up for the paperwork.”

* * *

**The End.**

 


	2. A New Life Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to I. for requesting the update to this story!

“Terminate her.”

Shikamaru was still staring at the pair of shinobi in the battle arena, his lips lax and expression inscrutable. His slumped shoulders gave nothing away.

“Terminate her,” repeated Itachi.

“She’s a Leaf citizen—”  
  
“She’s obviously S-class and has next to no ties to the village. She’s a spy and must be eliminated,” said Itachi calmly.

Resting his chin on his hand, Shikamaru sighed. “We have no proof.”

“She came within a hair’s breadth of successfully defeating one of our most decorated shinobi,” said Itachi. “She’s a plant.”

Itachi was loath to admit it, as it would be a waste to lose a nin with Sakura’s skills—but she was obviously too talented to have remained anonymous from the Bingo Books and individual battles without deliberate intention. She had been raised as a weapon by someone, or someones, very, very skilled themselves. Perhaps what troubled him most was that he could not think of a single person or group who could have done so. Everything in Haruno’s family records indicated that hers was a civilian family with at most genin-level ninja instruction. There was nothing about her as an individual that provided any clue as to how she would have survived as a child following the ambush of her family while they traveled, let alone how she could have developed her devastating skill set. Members of his own clan, those who were raised to be shinobi from birth, would have struggled against her. 

Part of Itachi knew, cold-hearted as it was, that she was a danger to the entire village and had to be eliminated. But another part of him—

—below, in the dirt of the practice arena, Sakura executed a perfect fire-style leap and bait-and-switch, disappearing silently in a puff of smoke—

—recognized the nearly completely lost fighting style of the elders of his clan, the ones who had studied under the clan founders. He remembered watching them when he was very young, before Sasuke was born. The grace and power behind the movements, the confidence, had been mesmerizing. Try as he might, he had not managed to reproduce the style himself from memory in his adult life, and the elders had become too frail to pass it on. Like a language with too few speakers, the style was lost to the sands of time.

Before his very eyes, however, was a young woman who had obviously learned it at some point before it was overlain with other styles. 

To hide her tutelage or background, wondered Itachi? He didn’t know. But he recognized a threat when he saw one.

Below them, Kakashi had decided to take a breather while one of Sakura’s ANBU guards had offered to pair off against her.

“Wait and see how she does against the Hyuuga,” said Shikamaru, his brows dipping. 

“Hn.”

The men were silent for several minutes as they watched Sakura fight.

“Why are you so opposed to terminating her?” asked Itachi. “The paperwork involved would be minimal on your part.”

Shikamaru sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the railing overlooking the training arena.

“What if there were other Leaf citizens out there who wanted to come home but who were afraid to?” said Shikamaru.

Itachi listened quietly.

“What if they were also skilled, but also possibly in the Bingo Books. What if they weren’t but were worried they would be rejected or cast out. What if they were in unfortunate circumstances and wanted out. What if they truly would be impressive additions to our citizenry, but they found out that Sakura—a woman who disappeared as a child and has no history or Bingo Book reputation—was killed when she came back to request repatriation?”

“They would be missing-nin. Leaving the village has consequences. They understand that leaving the village means cutting all ties and protection offered by the Leaf.”

“But in Sakura’s case, she was a child. She had no choice,” said Shikamaru. He winced as he saw a particularly elaborate series of taijutsu kata unleashed from Neji on Sakura, only for her to spin the latter half of them back on him. “Just imagine if we had people out there who were only half as skilled as Sakura back in our ranks again.”

Itachi frowned.

It was true. For the last decade, Konoha had been involved in a number of highly detrimental support missions to other nations, like Suna, that had diminished the ranks of their elite nin. Huge gains for peace among the ninja Nations had been made but at significant cost to their own shinobi and kunoichi—and their families. It had led many to retire from the profession in order to focus on their personal lives. Many others were aging out. The tensai of their generations were hitting the age where they would soon be wanting families of their own, too, and even their temporary departure from the ranks left holes that were harder and harder to fill properly.

In that respect, Sakura would be an even greater prize.

His eyes still watching Sakura, Itachi considered what Shikamaru was saying. But someone as skilled as Sakura was a rarity; and who knew how many others, rogue Leaf-nin, were interested in repatriation? 

Itachi asked, “You want to replenish our personnel with lesser shinobi?”

“I want to strengthen our ranks with experienced shinobi so we don’t have to rely on children,” said Shikamaru, unusually blunt. He turned hard eyes on Itachi. “My son will be out there too soon already,” he muttered.

“If shinobi know they can leave and come back as they please, that will weaken their allegiance. They will leave to find other work in their prime and come back only when they have no other worth, expecting to be offered sanctuary,” said Itachi. “Leaf will lose its edge.”

“Maybe,” said Shikamaru.

They continued watching Sakura as she executed a devastating series of genjutsu and substitution combinations that nearly tricked Neji, they were so flawless.

Letting out a low whistle between his teeth, Shikamaru shrugged.

“Then again, maybe they’ll come back stronger, with their faith in Konoha more unshakable than ever.” 

The match between Hyuuga Neji and Haruno Sakura ended with a draw.

“S-class,” said Itachi evenly.

Shikamaru nodded, his brow furrowed.

* * *

 

Sakura heard the knock on the door and flared her chakra smoothly to acknowledge the visitor. They let themselves in.

“Your chakra usage is as smooth as a water user’s, but your tests came back indicating that lightning and earth are your affinities,” remarked the Copy Nin. He had often accompanied her to and from tests and evaluations over the last week or so. While he was standoffish (and late), he was not outright rude and he kept his hands and eyes to himself.

“I think one of my teachers at one point was a wind user, maybe that was it?” offered Sakura, watching Kakashi lean against the doorway to her temporary quarters.

“Do you remember much of them yet?”

Sakura smiled tiredly at Kakashi. “I only knew what they shared with me. I know one of them was originally from Leaf but left. He never told me why. I know another was from Lightning, and that he was cast out by his family.”

“Names?”

“I knew them as my foster-father and foster-brother. As mentioned, they’re both deceased.”

“You didn’t know your father’s or brother’s names?”   
“They’ve been gone a long time,” said Sakura. “I probably knew them, before. But…” Sakura shrugged. “Trying to find work when one doesn’t have family, or clan, can be difficult for a woman. I was able to use my skills to pick up occasional guard work but it was always temporary.”

“Why always temporary?”

Sakura chuckled darkly, her smile turning bitter at the edges before she sighed. “Because gentlemen didn’t take well to being told ‘no’,” she muttered, crossing her arms and rolling her shoulders. She had hated those assignments. They helped build her cover so Konoha had something to find about her background, but having to hold back from punishing the men who tried to intimidate her had never sat well with her. Well, she had mostly held back. Occasionally a broken finger or two went a long way to pleading her case.

“I never retaliated lethally,” she added, looking back at Kakashi. 

Unbothered, Kakashi shifted his weight slightly. “Have you learned much earth jutsu?”

“Some.”

Kakashi nodded and pointed his thumb behind him. “Want to get out of here for a bit and help out?”

Sakura’s heart thumped harder in her chest at the realization of what Kakashi’s words meant.

She had passed step one.

* * *

 

“We’re preparing a small tournament ground for the younger Academy students,” explained Kakashi as he led Sakura through the village. 

“Academy?”

“In Konoha, and now in other ninja villages, we teach basic ninja and academic skills at Little Ninja School. All our cute genin learn how to understand their chakra, basic defensive skills, how to follow orders, and how to work as teams at the Academy. You didn’t?” asked Kakashi.

Sakura shook her head, her eyes taking in the bustling villagers around them, heading to work, shopping at the market, young children playing with pets in their yards or the street. No guards were posted anywhere. Civilians roamed freely about their day, old and young and everything in between, in different styles of fashion and wear.

Looking up, Sakura noted shinobi occasionally leaping across rooftops or, from the corner of her eye, some in black-and-white androgynous uniforms following her and Kakashi. Ah, she still had her squad. With half a glance behind her, Sakura waved at them.

Kakashi chuckled.

“Just saying hi to my fans. We missed each other at breakfast this morning,” said Sakura, leaning toward Kakashi to let him in on the ‘joke’.

Kakashi regarded Sakura with his uncovered eye.

Lifting her eyebrows at his even expression, Sakura wondered what she’d done wrong.

“Are the kids from ninja families, then?”

“Primarily, though the Academy is open to civilian families, too.”

“What was my family?” asked Sakura.

“Civilian,” answered Kakashi.

Sakura nodded as they continued on their way. “Are any of them still here?”

Kakashi shook his head.

A tiny flicker of hope that Sakura had harboured since girlhood guttered and blew out like a candle flame in a single, quiet puff. 

“Ah,” she murmured. “Do you have a family?”

“No,” answered Kakashi. They continued in silence.

“What will I be doing this morning?” asked Sakura as they approached the gated entrance to the training grounds. 

A group of several other, primarily older shinobi were standing together with an oversized sheet of paper between them. They waved Kakashi and Sakura over, and Kakashi steered Sakura their way.

As they got closer, Sakura realized that some of the shinobi weren’t old, but they were injured—or previously injured. Veterans, she realized. Their veterans find ways to help the village, even if they are no longer battle-ready.

Interesting, she thought. They remain valuable even if they are no longer fighters. Or, front-line fighters at any rate.

“She’s new,” explained Kakashi to the group as they joined, and Sakura snapped out of her daydream. “This is Haruno Sakura. She’s re-integrating into Leaf as a citizen. She knows some earth-jutsu and she’s quick to pick up on things. She’s here to help build the chakra-climbing ramps and bridges.”

“Bridges?” asked Sakura, whipping around to look at Kakashi. “Walls sure, but bridges?”

Kakashi turned his eye-crease smile on her and fairly twinkled—insufferably. “Mm-hmmm.”

“I’m here to help,” said Sakura, mostly keeping her glare for Kakashi under wraps. Bridges? Really?

Still, it was work and it was outside her ‘cell’, so she was grateful. Above her, lazy clouds rolled by and she listened to the instructions from the other nin, some of whom now worked construction in the village. They had adapted their ninjutsu techniques to assist with roadworks and building maintenance once they had retired from the ranks. The training ground restructuring was part of their regular maintenance routine, and they soon taught Sakura several tips and tricks for manipulating the ground to do as they wished. As they constructed the leveled climbing walls, bridges, and platforms, Sakura noted the pride the other nin took in their work, and how they also tested the structures themselves to make sure they were ‘safe’ for the younger children. They made up an obstacle course toward the end, and Sakura found herself laughing as they cheered her on while she ran through it to check for weak spots. At one point Kakashi waved goodbye, but Sakura kept working.

The group finished a little bit after the usual noon hour, and Sakura looked around as the others gathered for a late lunch. Her meals were usually provided to her at the detention center.

“Haruno.”

Still smiling, Sakura turned to find a man with a startlingly familiar expression staring her down. Her breath caught in her throat, her mouth drying to cotton.

“I am Uchiha Sasuke. I will be accompanying you back to your quarters,” announced the young man who could have been Madara’s double in the latter’s early years. He wore a standard jounin uniform, his lower legs bandaged, his forehead protector over his brow and brushed aside his long, dark, shaggy bangs. “Follow me.”

Behind Sakura, several of the construction nin called Sakura’s name and waved goodbye. Sakura waved back and turned away to follow Sasuke.

Was this...

“Are you…”

“Hn?”

Sasuke’s inky eyes glanced over his shoulder and down to look at Sakura.

Biting her tongue, Sakura shook her head. No. It wasn’t a question she should ask.

“Nothing,” she said.

The Uchiha watched her another moment longer, and Sakura caught the faintest trace of his scent; so similar to Madara’s that she felt her knees soften with homesickness for a heartbeat. But different. 

“You looked familiar for a moment. I thought you were someone else,” said Sakura, edging around honesty to play it safe.

“Ah. My brother,” replied Sasuke. 

Sakura tilted her head to the side. A brother?

Tucking the information away for later, Sakura nodded vaguely, following Sasuke back toward the village. When they took a small detour toward a new area on their way, Sakura saw the large, heavy gates with the uchiwa fan carved above their lintel and realized this was the Uchiha District Madara had told her about. 

“We’re stopping to get something. It will only take a minute,” explained Sasuke. 

Sakura nodded, feeling as if by passing through the gates she was crossing a veil into a fantasy fairy tale. This. This was where her father had protected his clan, had become one of Konoha’s founders, had buried their roots. This place, this felt like a place of complete wonder for Sakura. 

She recognized more and more embellished fans, saw so many specific, particular aspects of her father’s features in the people around her, smelled food that he had made her as a child.

Unbidden, warmth pooled in Sakura’s eyes and her throat tightened.

“Hn?” asked Sasuke, turning to look at Sakura and his eyebrows rising. “Is something wrong?” he asked immediately.

Shaking her head, unable to explain the overwhelming sadness, homesickness and homecoming that struggled inside her, Sakura cleared her throat. “It just felt kind of familiar. My father—my foster-father—used to cook a dish that smelled very similar to one I just smelled. I haven’t had it in a long time,” admitted Sakura. “I didn’t think I would ever get to smell it again. I didn’t mean to distract you. It was a bit jarring.”

Watching her, Sasuke didn’t comment. They began walking again and were soon outside one of the most beautifully maintained, traditional-style buildings in the compound. Sakura paused as Sasuke climbed the several steps to the front door and walked in, not knocking. He immediately came out again when he realized Sakura hadn’t followed.

“Come on,” he said, holding the door open. “You need to be accompanied.”

“I’m allowed in?”

“Of course, it’s my house.”

Something strange and unsettling fluttered along the back of Sakura’s nape, but she ignored it in favour of following Sasuke. It was true, she wasn’t allowed on her own yet. 

But Sakura wasn’t an idiot. She knew what kinds of things happened when a man invited a woman into his home when others weren’t around. She remained very close to the door, edging inside only far enough to technically be considered indoors.

“It’s rude to stand there like you don’t want to come in,” said Sasuke.

“I have no chaperone,” said Sakura.

Sasuke paused in the middle of taking off his sandals and stared at Sakura as if she’d just grown an extra head.

Lifting her chin, Sakura stared Sasuke down. She watched his chest rise fully as he took a deep, silent breath before letting it out slowly without a word.

“Mom!” he called out, startling Sakura.

“Yes,” called back a feminine voice. Older than Sakura. 

_ Obviously _ , Sakura chastised herself. 

“Could you c’mere a sec?”

“Manners, Sasuke!”   
“Please,” said Sasuke, already sounding tired.

“Fine, I’ll be right—oh, hello,” said a beautiful older woman in her late forties. Her long, dark hair was graying at her temples, her smile was polite and her dark eyes were warm. She immediately held out her hand to Sakura. “My name is Uchiha Mikoto.”

“Haruno Sakura,” said Sakura with a graceful half-bow.

“Oh, no need for formalities if you’re one of Sasuke’s friends,” said Mikoto, laugh lines creasing around her eyes. “Please come in.”

From behind Mikoto’s shoulder, Sasuke caught Sakura’s eye and lifted a brow. Sakura gave him a tiny nod of acknowledgment and relief.

“She’s a ward of the village. I’m escorting her back to her quarters,” amended Sasuke. “Itachi asked me to pick up a file for him while I was on my way.”

“It’s probably up in his room, if you want to go get it,” said Mikoto. “A ward? We haven’t had many come through recently. And please forgive me, but you seem like an adult.”

While Sasuke nipped upstairs, Mikoto remained with Sakura in the front entrance hall. It was only a short stay, after all. They could hear Sasuke opening and closing drawers above them.

“I was born a citizen of Konoha. My family were traveling when I was very young when they were lost to an ambush. I am only now returning to Konoha,” explained Sakura. 

“This happened a long time ago?” asked Mikoto.

“About fifteen years, I think. According to the village records I’m officially twenty,” said Sakura. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any family left in the village. I had been hoping there would be someone, but Hatake Kakashi confirmed it this morning.”

Mikoto’s brows puckered. “I’m so sorry for your loss. There are so many who are the last of their lines in the village, now.”

Sasuke descended the stairs and passed around his mother to the lower floor of the entrance to don his nin sandals again. He lifted a scroll in his hands. “Found it.”

“It was very nice meeting you,” said Sakura, bowing again even as Mikoto waved goodbye.

“Thank you for stopping by with Sasuke,” said Mikoto. 

Sasuke and Sakura closed the door behind them as they left, and headed back toward the village. They passed by the clan food vendor stalls again on their way out and Sakura let herself drink in the delicious, familiar scents as they wafted over, smiling to herself. 

Sasuke eyed her but said nothing, and Sakura ignored him.

As they turned a corner, a red-eyed crow alighted upon Sasuke’s shoulder. Huffing slightly, Sasuke lifted the scroll and tied it to the harness strapped to the crow’s back. The crow nodded at him once, then turned to stare at Sakura intently before taking flight and disappearing into the sky.

“One of my brother’s summons,” said Sasuke as Sakura stared after the crow.

“The summons I knew spoke,” said Sakura.

“He can. He chose not to,” said Sasuke. “Tch, impatient.”

“If he was so impatient he could have picked it up himself, or sent a clone,” said Sakura. “Was he checking up on me?”

Sasuke looked at Sakura, who arched a brow at him.

“They said you were smart,” was all he answered.

“That’s working against my efforts to re-integrate,” said Sakura.

“Would you rather be perceived as unintelligent?”

“I’d rather be accepted.”

“Then be accepted for who and what you truly are. It’s better than being seen as a fraud later,” said Sasuke. “We have enough idiots in the village.”

Sakura gave him a look, but her words were drowned out by the sound of someone shouting, “TEME!” and a blond man running wildly at them, pointing angrily at Sasuke, who sighed.

“Speaking of…” muttered Sasuke.

Sakura looked between the two men as the blond caught up to them, and recognized Uzumaki Naruto from the Bingo Books. So the two of them really were friends?

“Working,” said Sasuke, ignoring whatever it was Naruto was going on about. 

“You’re on a date!?”

“Escorting me back to my cell, actually. Hi, I’m Sakura, nice to meet you,” said Sakura, smiling at Naruto. She offered her hand but Naruto just stared at her.

“Sakura? Haruno Sakura?”

Brow furrowing, Sakura nodded. She dropped her hand when Naruto didn’t accept it.

“You used to live in the civilian district? Like, fifteen years ago?” asked Naruto, squinting at Sakura. He lifted his hands to his chin. “Your hair was this long, right?”

Sakura blinked.

“With the merchants. You lived in the civilian merchant district,” muttered Naruto, rubbing his chin.

Sasuke and Sakura stared at Naruto.

“I… I don’t remember.”

“I do,” said Naruto, suddenly beaming at Sakura. “You were always really smart and really pretty! You used to say “Hi” to me at the park!”

The park…

The tall trees, the swing set, the sandbox… The images floated to Sakura’s mind as Naruto spoke. And yes, there had been a little boy there, with whiskers on his dirty face just like the ones on Naruto’s now…

“You taught me how to pick up worms,” said Sakura.

“You DO remember me!” cheered Naruto, grinning. 

“I had forgotten about my time in Konoha,” said Sakura, shaking her head. “I knew I was from here, but I had forgotten so much.”

“Well, I’m unforgettable,” said Naruto with a cheeky wink. “Unlike this loser,” he added, pointing to Sasuke.

Sasuke ignored Naruto and spoke to Sakura. “I need to return you soon.”

Sakura nodded, but turned back to Naruto. “Thank you.”

“For what?”   
Sakura shook her head. “A very good memory.”

“See you later, dobe,” said Sasuke, steering Sakura away.

“Later Sakura!”

“Bye!”

Her heart light, Sakura considered how much she had accomplished that day even as she returned to her temporary residence. Working with other nin, assisting the village, meeting Naruto and some Uchihas… Not bad.

Hopefully, this would put her in better standing with Konoha.

* * *

 

“... works well with others, is building friendly relationships with others. Had a mild altercation with a nin who got handsy—”

“What happened?” asked Itachi.

“Broke his hand, nothing crazy. The other guys laughed at him and congratulated Sakura on her aim,” read Genma.

“Any luck with her yet?” asked another ANBU.

“I think discretion is the better part of valour.”  
  
“She’s not interested,” said Shikamaru.

“Any luck tracing her history?” asked Itachi.

The group of strategists reviewing Sakura’s request for residency flipped through the multi-page report.

“Her locations check out, she’s remembered, but few people interacted with her personally,” read Shikamaru. 

“Spy,” said Itachi.

Shikamaru groaned.

“Any luck tracing the Uchiha who may have trained her?”

“No leads. All were accounted for.”

Shikamaru looked at Itachi, but Itachi said nothing.

“How are her test results?”

A murmur ran through the room.

“S-class. Excellent chakra control. A strategist,” said Neji.

“How good is her chakra control?” asked Kakashi.

Itachi looked at him, his eyes narrowing.

“Good enough to take on med-nin work?” asked Kakashi, turning to Shikamaru.

* * *

 

“The hospital?” asked Sakura the next day.

Kakashi nodded and accompanied her through the village, this time towards the Tower.

“You have excellent chakra control. We’re going to see how good.”

“I haven’t learned healing before.”

“You’re about to get a crash course,” said Kakashi, pushing open the door to the hospital.

“I said no more damn apprentices until someone with actual fucking skill showed up!” hollered a tall blond woman standing at the reception desk. Her long, sage-green coat and authoritative stance marked her as someone who was In Charge, though her language was caustic enough to peel the paint from the walls. She was berating the poor administrator who shakily pointed at Sakura and Kakashi at the door. The blond turned to glare at Sakura, and Sakura immediately recognized Senju Tsunade from the Bingo Books.

“Absolutely no. Look at her. She’s too old for me to teach,” said Tsunade, turning away from Sakura. “Maybe she can clean bedpans.”

As the Senju began to walk away, Sakura’s hands clenched to fists at her side.

Dismissed?   
Just like that?

No one, absolutely no one, wrote Sakura off with nothing but a look. 

Planting her feet, Sakura glared right back at Tsunade and put her hands on her hips.

“Try me,” Sakura called back. 

* * *

 

While Sakura began training at the civilian, then shinobi medical clinics, Itachi was busy with his own investigations.

Commissioning his own missions, he sent out different Uchiha clan members on a variety of tasks. Investigations into mission histories, personal history verification, even custody trial reports were reviewed, all in the effort of tracking down the identify of the Uchiha who had trained Sakura. Branch members, those presumed dead on missions, any potential lead was followed up. Uchiha were even sent outside the village to investigate long-term missions their fellow clan members had undertaken in the past.

Was there a branch of Uchiha the village didn’t know about?

Itachi poured over every lead personally.

It went on for weeks and months.

* * *

 

Kakashi once more arrived at Sakura’s detention cell to greet her and walk her to the Tower.

“Any luck processing my reintegration request?” Sakura asked as they walked.

“Some. You’re being granted permission to participate in some missions,” said Kakashi.

“C- and D-rank missions?”

“To start. I think, with how quickly you’re catching on to medical jutsu, though, that those are just a formality for you.”   
“I need to learn how to be part of a team, how to report mission results, and then if I do well, I can actually start earning an income?”

Kakashi chuckled as they entered the building.

“Looking for a bit of independence?”

‘Please. Just an apartment of my own. I need to check in at the desk every time I come and go. I can’t invite anyone over, and I’m reported if I am seen going into anyone else’s residence,” said Sakura tiredly. 

“Not so great for the dating life?”

“Not so great for any life,” clarified Sakura.

“Ah,” agreed Kakashi, still chuckling.

“What’s that poster?” asked Sakura as they approached the mission board. 

“Chunin exams,” said Kakashi. “Coming in a few weeks.”

Sakura looked up at Kakashi and he elaborated.

“They’re being held in Konoha this year. It’s how our genin progress to chunin. Suna is sending delegates to attend, too.”

Sakura nodded and then returned to the board. She sighed after a few minutes of perusing the pitiful offerings.

“Could I go back to helping with the bridges?...”

“Oh look, there’s a nice retrieval mission right over—”  
  
Sakura stiffened.

“Naruto warned me about that cat. Hell no.”

“Ah….”

* * *

 

Kakashi raised his hand at the latest reintegration review. 

“Yes,” sighed Shikamaru, rubbing his face.

“The Sand Siblings popped by Sakura’s training field this afternoon,” began Kakashi, even as Shikamaru groaned and dropped his head in his hands.

Itachi just looked pained.

“They said that if Sakura isn’t accepted here, she’s welcome to visit Suna. Kankuro said Gaara was willing to extend a personal invitation.”

Shikamaru’s head hit the table with a thud.

“The Kazekage is crushing on our super-recruit?” asked Genma. He grinned around his senbon.

“Apparently she was quite impressive in training,” said Shikamaru, head still down. “Per Temari.”

“Actually, it was her clone. Sakura got bored with the genin team and left a clone. She went to the shinobi medical clinic to volunteer. She was very effective. Even Tsunade has asked when Sakura will be available for full shift rotations.”

“For the Chunin exams, Gaara also mentioned he would appreciate it if the pretty S-class nin did not take out any of his genin too harshly.”

“Gaara did not say that.”

“Kankuro strongly implied it.”

“Uchiha, anything to report?”

“No,” said Itachi evenly. He seethed about it.

“Motion to make Sakura a jounin and send her out on a few missions to see how she does? This is dragging on,” complained Shikamaru.

“I strongly disagree with this.”

“That’s why we’re sending your ANBU team to follow,” said Kakashi to Itachi.

“And someone book a meeting with Tsunade to see how often she wants Sakura on rotation at the hospital. We need the help,” said Shikamaru, lifting and rubbing his forehead. “Dismissed.”   
As the room emptied, Shikamaru looked at Itachi. 

“I know you don’t like this, but you haven’t come up with anything we can use. We can’t leave the fishing expedition open forever.”

“Hn,” said Itachi. It was true. All of it was true. None of it sat well with him, and he knew Shikamaru didn’t like it either, but what could they do? Shikamaru was right, they had to make a decision.

Itachi knew it, too. He just wished they had found _something_.

* * *

 

Suiting up, Sakura packed up her meager belongings and set them on her bed. Most would be staying in Konoha while she was on her mission. 

Her first mission for Konoha outside the village borders. 

Unofficially it was a jounin-ranked mission, though B-level. Her S-rank was masked by her genin status, much to the amusement of her new colleagues. She had met them at the briefing the morning before and so far they seemed… professional and polite with her. Kakashi was his usual aloof self, but he had at least treated her the same way he treated everyone else. When she had asked him if her fans were going to be coming along for the outing, Kakashi had merely lifted his brows and given her that damnable eye-crease grin—which Sakura assumed meant ‘yes, your ANBU entourage will be in attendance, don’t mess up’. 

Packing the last of her weapons into her scroll, Sakura tucked it into its pocket in her jounin vest and straightened.

It was time for her to show them what she was made of.

* * *

 

_ “Stay alert. Akatsuki have been sighted in the area.” _

Nodding to show she’d heard the direction from her ear-piece, Sakura approached the building from the west. The sun would be in her eyes temporarily when she rounded the next corner, but at least her shadow wouldn’t give her away. While the others had tensed at the news of the Akatsuki’s possible presence, Sakura had felt loneliness and longing. She would have given a lot to see her foster family, though it would have spelled her downfall and failure in her priority mission.

“Target within sight,” breathed Sakura, spying the missing-nin inside the building through a window.

_“He’s known for setting traps,”_ reminded Kakashi.

“Checking now,” said Sakura, easing down to her knees to examine the window frame. She quickly spotted the near-invisible wires, her eyes widening.

“Pressure plates, repeat, pressure plates. It’s a warning system. They likely already know we’re here,” said Sakura quickly. “Silent alarm.”

_“Have they shown any sign of—”_   
  
“I’ve seen this before,” interrupted Sakura harshly. “Get everyone back fifty feet before they blow the—”

The ground exploded and sent Sakura and the other Konoha nin flying through the air.

Gritting her teeth, Sakura flipped and pushed off the first building she reached, heading back into the fray. The explosion was a distraction. She recognized the wiring setup.

And the clay.

_ Damnit, Dei,  _ thought Sakura, shaking with frustration and anger. _ Not today. _

The missing-nin they had been tracking erupted from the blown-off roof in front of Sakura, escaping in the turmoil and confusion. Sakura took off after him.

“I have a visual on him, heading south,” said Sakura into her comm. “Initiating pursuit.”

_ “Negative, return to the team, Sakura. The nin could be leading you to a trap.” _

“He’s a copy-cat!” growled Sakura, running after the man faster than before. The missing-nin wasn’t Deidara, but he knew Dei’s style. How he’d created the clay she couldn’t say, but she recognized Dei’s wirework. “He isn’t Akatsuki.”

But he knew about Deidara.

It lasted over an hour, but Sakura eventually cornered the man, both their chests heaving. Her chase had taken her beyond the reach of her radio comm, and the last thing she remembered hearing was Kakashi ordering her to return, damnit. She had ignored him.

Sakura had ignored her team lead’s direct orders to satisfy her own curiosity.

“Finally caught up, huh,” wheezed the nin as Sakura approached cautiously. “He said you would.”

Trouble shimmied down Sakura’s spine but she forged on. 

“What are you talking about?” demanded Sakura, minding she stepped exactly where the nin had. For all she knew the entire building was wired with mines. She was impulsive but not stupid.

“Him. He’s been waiting for you.”

Sakura swallowed to clear her throat, keeping alert. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Come with me peacefully back to Konoha and you will live.”

The nin’s dark eyes shone with mirth. “He wasn’t kidding.” He shook his head. “You’re single-minded and tough. But I’m not going anywhere.”

“You have my word that you won’t be harmed. You’ll stand trial before you’re—”   
“I only have a few minutes left,” sighed the man, sliding down the wall at his back to sit, chest still heaving. “He just wanted to see you.”

Her hands clenching at her sides, a muscle ticked in Sakura’s jaw.

“I’m a Konoha nin,” Sakura said. “You’re charged with endangering civilians and arson in four nations—come with me, now, and we can guarantee you safe passage until your trial—”

“He told me you were beautiful. He also mentioned the stubbornness,” chuckled the man to himself, lifting a hand over his chest where his heart was. “He’s proud of you. He wants you to come back, he misses you, but he knows you’re dedicated to your mission.”

Shaking her head with frustration, Sakura kept her fists raised. Inside her heart and stomach churned. This man, he couldn’t mean… No one knew her… She’d been a secret her entire life...

“Wh-what are you…”

The man’s face was turning purple, then blue, before Sakura’s eyes, pain etching deep furrows down his cheeks and beneath his eyes.

Sakura watched in horror as black veins crawled up the sides of his throat.

“Poison,” whispered Sakura. She lurched forward, glowing hands outstretched, but the man held up his hands.

“Stay there, it’s wired,” he gasped, choking.

“Who did this to you?” demanded Sakura.

“It’s all done now. I repaid my debt,” coughed the nin, eyes closing. “Glad I got to see who he was talking about, heh.”

“Who? Who are you…”

“He loves you, Sakura,” said the nin, opening his eyes just enough to see her blurring form. “He’ll find you.”

“Do you have family?” begged Sakura, carefully edging closer to the man. She finally reached him, taking his hand. As he slumped to the side, Sakura helped him lie flat so he was more comfortable. “Do you need to say goodbye to anyone?”

“Complete your mission, return home a hero,” mumbled the man on a cough. “And he loves you. That’s what he said...”

The man’s pulse faded from her hands and she set his hands across his chest. Pressing her lips together, Sakura bowed her head and said a prayer for the fallen. 

A few minutes later, as she stood outside with the missing nin’s body beside her on the roof, Sakura looked out and around her, the trees and buildings spreading for miles.

There was a tickle along her senses as she turned to the east. There, in the trees, she caught sight of a now-familiar ANBU mask, its wearer crowned with long, raven hair pulled back in a queue. She held his crimson gaze defiantly, but he made no move to join or assist her.

A few minutes later, Kakashi and the rest of her team appeared and after brief questioning, they carried away the body of the missing-nin and began their journey home.

“The building is mined,” said Sakura to the air as she passed by the tree the ANBU had been hiding in.

There was no answer, but Sakura hadn’t expected one.

They were several kilometers away when they heard the explosion and crashing behind them.

Kakashi glanced over his shoulder before looking at Sakura.

“Clean-up,” said Sakura. “ANBU.”

“They’re normally more subtle,” remarked Kakashi.

“Maybe he was pissed he was left out,” said Sakura.

The team continued on their way, the ANBU escort just far enough behind to be invisible.

From his perch atop his clay bird, hovering near a treeline, Deidara observed them all through his scope. He didn’t miss the way the Uchiha ANBU stalked Sakura’s movements. His blond brows pulled together, Deidara pulled away after the ANBU were out of sight, returning to base.

* * *

**TBC**


	3. The Accident

As Sakura arrived back at her cell one night a month later, she felt heavier than she had in weeks. She’d been granted her full pay. In spite of ignoring orders on her first mission, she’d been cleared for future jounin-level missions as she’d performed perfectly on other missions thereafter. (“It must have been a radio glitch. Could you take a look at it?...”) She’d been assigned a tentative rotation schedule for hospital duties when she was within the village. She had even been told she was welcome to begin looking for her own residence within the village. She should have considered it a major success.

And yet.

Hearing the laughter from down the hall from the guard station, remembering the sight of the couples she’d seen walking arm-in-arm around the village on her way back from the Tower, seeing families out shopping together, it all brought home how alone she was.

Sakura missed her Akatsuki-family. She missed their presence around her. She missed their banter when they included her.

For the last week, the missing-nin’s words had haunted her. Deidara missed her. Deidara loved her. 

But she had no way of contacting him without risking her cover identity.

And she didn’t know how to really make friends. Was Kakashi a friend? Not really, thought Sakura, mulling it over. He was more of an overseer who didn’t wish her outright ill.

Right.

Well, now that the bar was set low enough to be scraping the ground, Sakura felt even better about herself. Perhaps she could…

Sakura sighed, curling up on her bed. Sometimes one just had to let themselves be a little maudlin.

She had integrated into the shinobi ranks in Konoha, but she hadn’t secured the second part of her mission, gaining the trust of the elites. She needed an ‘in’, someone to grease the wheels for her, someone to break the ice—

“Hey Sakura! You back yet?”

Sakura’s eyes widened as she heard Naruto’s voice on the other side of her door. When she answered, he gave her a wide grin. Wearing his jounin vest with casual clothes beneath, he waved cheerfully at her.

“Hey! Wanna grab dinner and catch up?”

Sakura smiled gratefully.

“Love to!”

As they exited the detainment block into the early evening air, laughing, a crow watched them from its perch upon the nearby baker’s roof.

* * *

 

At dinner, Sakura realized she was the guest of honour. Around her were almost a dozen other nin her and Naruto’s age, all waving hello and welcoming her.

“Welcome dinner?” said Sakura, cheeks pink.

Naruto nodded, scratching the back of his head. “If I’d said so earlier would you have come along, or would you have been too shy?”

Sakura laughed and gave Naruto a one-armed hug.    
“Thank you!” whispered Sakura against Naruto’s ear.

“Anytime!” said Naruto, grinning back at her. “Not sure if you remember everybody from around the training grounds, but this is my girlfriend Hinata, this is Ino, this is Kiba,...”

One after another Sakura met her fellow nin, though her eyes kept returning to Ino.

It was her blue eyes, her blond hair, her completely unashamed confidence…

Sakura couldn’t help the way her heart skipped as she watched and listened to Ino setting the boys in their place or holding court. She just wanted to reach out and wrap her arms around Ino, confide in her about her anxieties, and listen to Ino’s advice—even moreso when Ino snapped at an older nin for leering at the women at their table. 

“Do you have a place to stay yet?” asked Ino, addressing Sakura at the end of the night. They had finished their meal and were gathered together outside the restaurant. Couples were breaking off to do their own thing, and Sakura was left watching them, her loneliness creeping in around the edges again. 

“Huh? Oh, uh, I start looking this weekend. I have enough saved up for a few months’ rent now,” said Sakura.

“Perfect, I’ll meet you on Saturday morning. We’ll get you some new clothes and I’ll show you where the nicer parts of town are,” said Ino. “I’ll be by around 7:30, we’ll do breakfast first.”

At that, Sakura couldn’t help it. She threw her arms around Ino and hugged her tight.

“Thank you!”

Ino stiffened for a half-second before chuckling and hugging Sakura back. 

“We need to stick together,” said Ino softly, smoothing Sakura’s hair. “We’re too beautiful for the rest of the world.”

Laughing, Sakura nodded and released Ino, waving goodbye.

“I’ll see you Saturday!”

“Drop by my family’s flower shop if you’re in our neighbourhood,” called back Ino. “I’ll get you a discount.”

Unable to contain her happiness, Sakura smiled her entire walk home. She waved to the crow that had followed her, wishing it a goodnight, too.

* * *

Before long, Sakura and Ino became inseparable around Konoha. Ino, Naruto and their friends helped Sakura find and move into her new apartment. They invited Sakura out to their dinners and training sessions. Sakura tried dating a bit after receiving several requests, civilians only, but found she didn’t have enough in common with them for it to last more than a week or so at a time. Also, she missed Deidara.

Sakura found she enjoyed dinners with Naruto and his friend Sasuke, whom she remembered from her early days in Konoha. They acted like they hated each other, but Sakura could tell they were best friends. They just had strange rivalries.

She got used to the occasional raven-haired ANBU or his crow-summon following her around Konoha. She disliked it more when she was outside the village on missions, as she found it distracting, but if it was the price she paid for being a Konoha-nin, then so be it. Sakura knew she was privileged, and that her associations with her fellow nin were precious and valuable. She would not risk any of them with careless mistakes. Overall her days fell into a routine that built her reputation for high-quality work and reliability—perfect.

It was when Sakura was summoned to the Tower that things became more complicated.

“ANBU?” asked Sakura, sitting across from Kakashi and Shikamaru. It was nearly a year from when she had first arrived in Konoha. She had been summoned immediately after her hospital shift had ended. Kakashi and Shikamaru had met her at the entrance.

Shikamaru nodded.

“We aren’t sure how much you know about the black ops. Enrollment is voluntary,” said Kakashi.

“How about discharge?” asked Sakura.

“Not always voluntary,” said Shikamaru.

“As long as you bear the mark, you bear a responsibility to ANBU,” said Kakashi, lifting his sleeve. Sakura noted the tattoo on his arm, pieces falling together in her mind.

“However, we understand that in some circumstances, enrollment may be required on a temporary basis,” continued Shikamaru. “Such as when a particular skill set is required or in demand.”

Sakura looked between them before it dawned on her.

“You need S-class med-nins,” she said, and Kakashi nodded.

“Some of us are against early-enrolling inexperienced nin.”

“No babies?”

“Exactly,” said Kakashi with that eye-crease grin.

“We would like to offer you a chance to work with some of the village’s most elite nin, to learn from them, support them, and then, after a trial period, decide if you’d like to pursue your own career in ANBU,” said Shikamaru. “You will be paid full, med-nin ANBU rates while on ANBU missions.”   
Kakashi slid forward a paper with several columns on it.

“The rates on the left are regular jounin rates. The column in the middle displays the regular ANBU rates. The column on the right details the ANBU med-nin rates.”

Accepting the paper, Sakura looked down. She swallowed down her choke and hoped her eyebrows did not rise as high as they felt they did.

“We understand it takes a great deal of time to acquire and master medical skills, on top of maintaining S-class nin skills,” said Shikamaru. “Your missions will vary in complexity and duration. Your complete adherence to your commanding officer’s orders is non-negotiable, not just for your safety, but that of your team.”

“You will be part of a very intimate team that requires complete trust between you and its members. They will be placing their lives in your hands and vice versa.”

“There is no leaving an ANBU mission until it is complete,” added Kakashi. “There is no returning home until there is success.”

“The missions can and will affect your personal life,” stated Shikamaru finally. “And confidentiality is of the highest importance.”

“Having said all this, we feel that you are one of the most promising ANBU candidates we’ve had in a number of years.”

Taking a deep breath, Sakura knew what was coming next.

“We will only make this offer once,” said Shikamaru. “Haruno Sakura, do you accept a provisionary role in ANBU as team medic?”

Sakura didn’t hesitate.

“Is there something for me to sign?” she asked.

“Your last will and testament,” said Kakashi.

Sakura laughed until Kakashi slid a blank template and pen her way.

“Oh.”

“We recently added dental to our benefits plan,” added Shikamaru.

Sakura stared at Kakashi’s masked face. He stared back. She did not ask. 

“That’s good...”

* * *

Heading back to her apartment that night, Sakura collected her new uniform and some take-out. She wasn’t allowed to discuss her new position with anyone, so she couldn’t call Ino over. She knew it would be a tricky balance moving forward, but she had managed everything else that had been thrown at her. Kakashi had confirmed that ANBU HQ would always notify her other teams and the hospital if she was called away on ANBU missions. That was a positive. It meant that she needed to stay in near-daily contact with ANBU HQ, though, to keep them apprised of her personal schedule… including who she may have visiting her at night.

Which, considering Sakura wasn’t seeing anyone at the moment, wasn’t a huge deal-breaker… it was just a little awkward ticking the ‘no’ box beside ‘personal companions or significant others’ field on her intake form, when the stack of others had been peppered with ‘yes’ and ‘sometimes’.

Not that she didn’t want to have some company. She could have really used it after that first jounin mission, when she’d been missing Deidara like crazy. Smiling to herself a bit sadly, Sakura wondered what he was up to these days. Did he still think of her the way she did him? She had picked up the latest copy of the Bingo Book the other day to brush up on her missing-nin identification skills… but his (blurry) picture was still the same. She missed him.

Sakura opened her window as she warmed up her supper and went to put away her uniform.

When she returned, she found a familiar black crow on her window sill.

“You aren’t bored yet?” she asked it as she passed by.

Long accustomed to the crow, she pulled out a plastic tub of birdseed she kept on a shelf beneath his favourite window sill. From the next shelf, she pulled out the small ceramic dish that had pictures of cats on it, filled it with seed and set it out for him on the sill.

“Why do you not speak to me? Your little brother does,” said Sakura to the crow. “He and Naruto are friends with me. Why do you hide behind your summon?”

When the crow pecked at the seed instead of replying, Sakura smiled ruefully to herself and collected her supper from the microwave. Turning on the television, she looked over at the crow. “You’re welcome to come inside and watch. The wind’s picking up.”

The crow stared at Sakura and she shrugged her shoulders.

“Suit yourself. If you come in, no being nosy. This is a lady’s quarters, not a locker room.”

For a long time, the bird remained perched on her sill. When the rain began pelting the window, Sakura stood.    
“In or out. Choose. I’m closing the window,” she announced in a no-nonsense voice.

“In,” said the calm, male voice.

“Do I need to put down paper?” 

The crow glared at her.

“Let me know if you need anything,” sighed Sakura, heading back to her own room. “I need to pack.”

“You let a summon roam freely?”

“You’re not a proper summon. You’re a clone,” said Sakura. “Your summon left over an hour ago.”

“You didn’t answer.”

“Because all I need to do to get rid of you is clap my hands,” said Sakura, her back to the clone.

“Why allow me in if you know I’m a clone?”

“Maybe because I’m lonely?” sighed Sakura, self-deprecatingly. “I miss… I just wanted company. I don’t allow many guests in my home. If you’d wished me harm, you would have done something by now. All you’re doing is watching me. You may as well come in.”

“You formed bonds with many other Konoha nin.” The voice from the crow continued speaking, surprising Sakura. It was unusual. He definitely spoke with a man’s voice. He had the same inflection as Sasuke, she noticed. It reminded her of her foster-father. 

“Yes. But there are parts of us we can’t share with others, aren’t there? We all have our private lives.”

“Secrets,” responded the bird darkly.

“No, private lives,” said Sakura. “A secret is something you hide from others. Something you’re afraid or ashamed of. Privacy is when you accept and respect your friend’s personal life, whether it affects you or not. Privacy. Have you never had a friend before?”

The bird was silent and Sakura shrugged.

“What do you like to do in your free time?” asked Sakura. 

The bird cocked its head and Sakura glanced at it.

Sakura cocked her head right back. “Hm?”

“... I read.”

“Do you have a favourite genre?”

“History. Mystery novels.”

Sakura smiled. “My foster father used to enjoy those, too.” Sakura’s brow furrowed. “And those terrible Icha Icha novels, ugh.”

“They’re not all bad.”

Sakura gave the bird an incredulous stare. “Come again? No, wait, I shouldn’t have said that—”

The bird stared back at Sakura a moment before it chuckled in genuine amusement.

Sakura shook her head and gave in to her own laughter.

“I can’t believe I’m…” She chuckled to herself again, shaking her head. “Any recommendations?” she asked, curious.

“Paradise and Tactics are two of the best, but for the full impact, read Icha Icha Undercover first, then Icha Icha Heist.”

“... you not only know the stories but can recommend them in chronological order…” Sakura murmured as she stared at the bird. “You have collector’s editions, don’t you?”

“... I also enjoy developing new jutsu.”

“Uh-huh,” said Sakura, crossing her arms. “I bet you do. So does every other tensai out there.”

“It’s a valuable pastime.”

“Mmm, good for showing off at HQ and the training grounds,” agreed Sakura.

“What are your favourite activities? Things you did as a child?”

Sakura’s smile froze, then fell.

“Still don’t trust me, huh?”

“Are they secrets?”

“No,” said Sakura, walking to the window and sliding it open. The rain outside had faded to a drizzle. “But they’re private.”

The bird looked at Sakura a moment before hopping off the couch and swooping to the window sill.

“I upset you.”

“Why is it, whenever you come by—which is every day—you constantly pick at me about my past? You don’t trust me, I get it, but sometimes a conversation is just a conversation. You insulted me and tried to be sneaky about it when we were having an actual nice talk for once. It’s called ruining the moment, Uchiha,” said Sakura. “I tried being a friend and you threw it in my face. You’re welcome to leave.”

The bird stared at Sakura another moment before exiting through the window and flying away.

Shaking her head again, Sakura closed and locked the window after him.

Sakura was beginning to think her foster-father was one of the better Uchihas, if this was how Sasuke (who was borderline rude) and his brother (the supposed paragon) behaved.

* * *

Sakura.   
LOVED.  
ANBU.

The locales were more diverse. Sakura’s coworkers were the best of the best (outside Akatsuki). She found herself loving the challenge, exploring her limits, and thriving under pressure as she learned constantly from her peers. It was the closest she’d been to the level of competences of her upbringing since she had left the Akatsuki over a year before.

Also? She had been granted almost unlimited use of her skills and chakra as long as it leant to the success of the mission. (Sakura may have taken a little bit of advantage of that.)

The only drawback Sakura had come across so far?  
  
“You’re wasting chakra.”

—Uchiha Itachi was her captain.

It made Sakura want to scream sometimes.

Insanely talented, devastatingly effective, a brilliant strategist and a nigh-incomparable nin, Itachi was all those things, yes.

“You were a waste of birdseed,” muttered Sakura. She bit off the end of the tape she wrapped around her fists before putting on her gloves again. 

—He was also a spectacularly condescending asshole. (To her.)

Also, Sakura wasn’t wasting chakra. She had to use a certain amount of chakra daily to ensure that her body continued producing it in the mass quantities she required so that when she returned to Konoha, she could immediately take up her position at the hospital again as a surgeon. Chakra-assisted surgeries required far deeper chakra stores than combat nin realized, and it was one of the reasons why Konoha had a very special place in the world for rehabilitating injured nin. They could do what most other hospitals couldn’t—completely heal nin without the use of medical equipment beyond their own hands, if required.

Not that Itachi seemed to know that, but Sakura really wished she could force that little nugget of knowledge right down his prick throat sometimes. Followed by her fist.

“Do you need to rest to restore your chakra supply?” asked Itachi, in front of their ANBU team.

“No,” answered Sakura. 

“As a member of this team, you are required to be in peak condition at all times to protect your—”

LIfting a glowing hand to her forehead, Sakura projected her chakra level for the team to see.

“... she has more chakra than the rest of the team combined, sir,” said Neji.

“As it helps me conduct 14-hour long surgeries,” added Sakura lightly. “I’m good to go.”

“Is that insubordination?”

Sakura stiffened and counted to ten.

Itachi’s voice had been cold and smooth. He wasn’t angry with her. He was taunting her.

“That is why I don’t need to rest,” answered Sakura. “And why I am happy to take point on the return journey home.”

“You will remain at the rear, as required,” said Itachi.

Sakura caught sight of Neji’s subtle finger twitch, the one he always gave her when she needed to just take a step back for a minute and not get herself suspended from duty. 

“Yes sir,” said Sakura.

The team broke camp and set off.

As they took to the trees, Sakura and Neji met each other’s gaze and nodded to each other in understanding.  _ “You good?” “I’m good.”  _

At least someone on her team got her.

From the front of their team formation, Itachi didn’t miss the gestures and looks between Neji and Sakura. His chest burned and he was grateful for the mask which concealed his eyes.

Why was it, whenever he turned around, Sakura was having dinner with Sasuke and Naruto, or training with Neji, or finding other reasons to socialize with the men on their various teams. Of course, she still regularly met Ino, but it just bothered him so much whenever she was with other shinobi. Especially Neji. Itachi hated that Sakura spent so much of her time with Neji.

That night in her apartment, had it meant nothing?

Had she disregarded him so quickly after he left?

He’d heard that she had been dating—but dating civilians was different. Few in their profession ever lasted long with civilians. He couldn’t understand why she had lowered herself to it in the first place, other than perhaps some kind of nostalgia to see what it was like, based on her original family life? Who knew. Not Itachi, and he’d spent hours pouring over every bit of information he could find out about Sakura. 

What was it she’d said before? Something about being lonely and wanting company, but not wanting complications? That was it. Perhaps she had dated civilians due to fewer complications when dating someone who wasn’t a colleague.

Though it bothered him that she wasn’t seeing any colleagues, either.

What was her angle?   
And why could he not let her—her presence—go? Anytime she was brought up in conversation, he found himself attuned to the discussion, regardless of how trivial the detail or mention. 

Why others weren’t constantly preoccupied by her, Itachi didn’t know. It was a significant oversight on their part. Things just didn’t add up—and yet, even Neji, a shinobi Itachi had a great deal of respect for, had become overly familiar with Sakura.

“... when we return, yes…”

“... help?”

“... if you have time…”

“Focus!” called back Itachi tersely.

It had been on and off for hours, Itachi realized. Neji and Sakura, bantering back and forth. They were approaching Konoha and Itachi’s nerves were fraying from over-analysis.

In fact, thought Itachi, Sakura and Neji were practically fraternizing. Were they doing more than that, he wondered? Had they been maintaining a secret relationship? Was Neji sharing Konoha’s secrets with Sakura? With how similar some Hyuuga and Uchiha clan traditions were, was she trying to steal clan secrets?

In spite of how close they were to Konoha, Itachi motioned for everyone to form up and halt, then he sent Neji and Kiba off for privacy.

Rounding on Sakura, Itachi’s heart raced.

“What is wrong with you?” he demanded.

Blinking behind her mark, Sakura paused. “I don’t under—”

“You’ve been distracted throughout this mission. Are you incapable of maintaining your position and silence?”

“I never left my post—”

“Is there a reason you continue to embarrass yourself by fraternizing with your teammate?”   
“Fraternizing!”

“Taichou,” broke in Neji. “We’ve had reports of rogue nin marauding just outside Konoha’s borders. This discussion should wait until we’re back in the village—”

“You are also risking too much,” said Itachi, narrowing his eyes on Neji.

Taken aback, Neji froze.

It was just long enough for the poison darts to pelt their armour with a spray of fire.

“Attack from east-south-east!” yelled Sakura. She immediately flew into action, sending up a wall of earth to protect them from another barrage.

Neji’s Byuakugan activated and pin-pointed the band of troublemakers and with a nod to Sakura, they charged through the earth barrier in perfect sync. 

“Why are they attacking us,” muttered Sakura to herself, confused. “We’re ANBU, and we’re so close to our own village, it’s ridicu—”

“Akatsuki,” called Itachi. “These are a distraction.”

Sakura heard Itachi just as she was knocked off kilter by an explosion.

“You son of a—” she bit out, flipping in the air to avoid the debris the explosion kicked up. It hadn’t been fatal, but it had caught her off-guard. 

From behind Sakura, Deidara’s maniacal laughter both warmed her insides and set her on edge. What was he thinking attacking so close to the village? Why was he suddenly there, after being silent so long? Was this a test? A trick? Who was his partner?   
The latter question was answered a moment later as a puppet dropped into view and spit another round of poison darts at them. 

Taking a deep breath, Sakura decided to focus on Deidara as Itachi and Neji attacked Sasori’s puppet a short distance away. Another explosion beneath her feet separated her further and further from her teammates, and Sakura understood quickly that she was being herded away from the others deliberately.

With her teeth clenched, Sakura created a quick substitution and doubled around to the side to appear as if she was trying to attack Deidara from the side. As she expected, another bomb went off, throwing her further away and more forcefully than the previous ones. She glared at Deidara and hurried away faster.

When they were sufficiently far away from the other battle, Sakura eased off on her attacks, making them non-lethal.

“Long time no see,” murmured Deidara from directly behind Sakura. “Substitute a clone,” he whispered in her ear, disappearing with her in a poof of smoke. Grabbing her around the waist and covering her mouth with his other hand, he vanished them into a hollow tree trunk a short distance away. Outside, their clones continued their battle.

“Deidara—”

“I’ve missed you, yeah,” breathed Deidara, wrapping his arms around Sakura and holding her to him. “Gods it’s been too long.”

“I miss you,” said Sakura, twisting away her mask and burying her face in Deidara’s chest. “But why are you here? We don’t have much time.”

“Any updates? Beyond the obvious. Nice uniform,” said Deidara with a grin. “I guess you made it into the elites, huh?”   
“I’m a med-nin now, ANBU, I’m friends with Uchihas and Hyuugas. How are you?”

“Horny as a toad seeing you again, made a few new jutsu, and wishing I could see you again soon.”

Sakura laughed, clutching Deidara to her desperately.

“When do you think you’ll be able to turn one of them? Have you chosen someone?”

Sakura’s mouth dried out at Deidara’s return to business.

“I’ve only been part of ANBU for a short time. I’m amazed I made it this far in a year. I have a few options, but I don’t want to settle on one quite yet. I need more of a feel for them.”

“It’s a lot in a year,” praised Deidara, cupping Sakura’s cheeks. “Work hard, yeah, and… soon you’ll be home again.” His blue eyes softened. “We can make up for lost time when you get home.”

Sakura chuckled as Deidara leaned in to brush his nose against hers. “What, are you going to take a vacation?”

“I was thinking of something along those lines,” said Deidara, voice lowering. He leaned forward, caging Sakura in against the inside of the tree trunk. “You and me,” he whispered. 

Her pulse starting to pound harder, Sakura looked up at Deidara. “What are you saying?”

“What do you think I’m saying, yeah,” said Deidara, resting his forehead against Sakura’s. His smile was gentle. “The sooner you finish, the sooner we can both move on to—”

Deidara stiffened.

“Shit,” he cussed, straightening. He looked down at Sakura, his blue eyes full of emotion and regret. “Forgive me?”

“What are—oh sh—”

The tree exploded, hurling Sakura through the air. Deidara landed on his hovering bird sculpture, but Sakura wasn’t so lucky. Having not seen where Deidara disappeared them to, she had no lay of the land to fall back on when the tree blew apart around them.

Deidara’s worried expression was the last thing Sakura saw before she collided with a branch head-first, and everything went black for a full minute.

The next thing Sakura knew, she was pushing herself up on the forest floor, her focus blurry and nausea setting in quickly. Concussion, she diagnosed and tried to summon up the chakra path she needed to repair the brain swelling. The dizziness made the memory slippery, though, and she had to try several times before getting the pathway right.

“Stay there, we’re coming.”   
Neji’s voice in Sakura’s ear was reassuring, but she knew she had to get up. It was never smart to stay in one place for too long.

“I’m okay,” bit out Sakura, pulling herself up with the help of a nearby knobby tree root. “Location?”

“Look up, east,” said Neji.

Sticking to the shelter of the thick brush as her head healed, Sakura looked up, wincing at the brightness around her. Ah, that was why—she spotted the hole in the canopy where Deidara’s bird had no doubt punched through the foliage. Well, at least she knew she was in the clear from the battle. He had probably collected Sasori and his puppet and run.

The first ANBU at her side again wasn’t Neji, however, it was—

“Are you alright?” demanded Itachi, dropping so heavily to the forest floor that it startled Sakura. He reached for Sakura’s shoulders, invading her personal space. “What happened? Are you injured? Why did you disobey orders again to—”

There was a flash over Itachi’s left shoulder. Sakura reacted on instinct, throwing him out of the way.

“Fuck, Deidara,” muttered Sakura darkly as the leftover bomb went off, heaving her through the air again like a doll.

When she hit the ground the second time, she did not get up.

* * *

When Sakura came to it was in the ANBU critical care ward at the main hospital in Konoha—

—and there was a great deal of yelling.

“—dare you imply a lack of professionalism on the part of my apprentice!”

“—completely irresponsible, separated from the team again, endangered the entire unit—”

“—risked her life to save your overprivileged arse—!”

“—demanding an immediate inspection of her body for any sign she took liberties and fraternized with the enemy. It’s known she was sexually active before she arrived in Konoha and refused to disclose the name of the other party.”

“What?” breathed Sakura, staring at Itachi and Tsunade. Her fingers were numb and there was an uneasiness inside her that made her dizzy. Or perhaps it was her healing head injury.

“I don’t think this is a productive line of questioning at this time,” said Neji from the corner. He still wore his ANBU uniform, though there were burn marks on the left side of his chest protector. Stepping forward, he moved protectively in between Itachi and Sakura where she lay on the recovery bed. “Sakura’s personal history is no business of ours and has no place in this discussion. There is no connection of that nature between her and any nin.”

Itachi was far too calm when he turned to look at Neji. “Isn’t there?”

The room was shocked into silence.

The ball of fire was forming in Sakura’s hands without conscious thought when Neji whirled around to face her. “You’re awake! No, Sakura!”

Her lips peeling back from her bared teeth, Sakura asked, “Did my own team lead just imply I was—”

“Sakura, put that out immediately! We have oxygen tanks in the next room!” snapped Tsunade.

Her mentor’s voice quelled Sakura’s instinct to retaliate against Itachi for the time being, but she refused to let the subject drop entirely. Mentally Sakura began planning a dozen ways she would ruin the Uchiha’s reputation, the way he had just tarnished hers. And once her head stopped swimming, she was putting them all into action.

When the arguing started up again, Sakura had had enough.

“I’m going home,” said Sakura. 

Tsunade turned to Sakura and saw the rage that threatened to break through. Her honey-blond brow furrowing, she turned to Neji next. “See Sakura home.” Spying Itachi’s lips firming into a line, Tsunade added to Itachi, “And you mind your own business.”

Tsunade noticed the way Itachi’s hands fisted at his sides and mentally bookmarked it for future analysis. For now, she dismissed Itachi from the room and helped Neji understand Sakura’s injuries so he could assist her on her way back to her apartment.

“Take a few days off. Your head took several heavy hits,” said Tsunade with a frown. 

“It feels like it,” agreed Sakura tiredly.

Tsunade’s smile was dark and knowing. “Check in over the next few days in the meantime.”

“Hn,” said Sakura. 

When Sakura and Neji left an hour or so later, Sakura didn’t bother looking for Itachi to advise him of her status or change in location. Going forward, she decided she was dealing with ANBU HQ directly—and the first thing she was going to do was request a new ANBU team lead.

Tsunade watched Sakura leave and immediately went to address Uchiha Itachi with a calculating smile.

“We’re going to have a talk, Uchiha,” announced Tsunade.

Her eyes fell coldly on Itachi.

“In my office.”

* * *

**TBC**


	4. Handfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is NSFW.

The following day, while Sakura was on mandatory bed rest at home, Itachi joined his team at their usual practice at the training grounds. His dark brows pulled together as he saw more faces than usual there waiting for him—many more faces.

Waiting for him in a small crowd were Neji and Kiba, their shoulders tense and expressions hard. Behind them were Ino, Naruto, and, to Itachi's surprise, Sasuke, Kakashi and Shikamaru. Others followed behind them. All wore clan colours and simple practice wear, and none had brought a single weapon. Arm and leg wraps were woven in the traditional style, headbands had been removed and lain out in neat rows on the grass nearby, and as a single entity, the assembled nin circled Itachi and Neji as they faced each other.

It was clear this was not going to be a typical team practice.

“I take it you understand what this is about,” began Neji coldly. 

The previous afternoon’s conversation—berating, really—with Tsunade surfaced in Itachi’s memory. The Senju had been merciless, and yet she had made Itachi see clearly for the first time in over a year.

“Ah,” replied Itachi, removing his weapons. The circle parted for him to set them on the grass with the others. When he returned, he took his place in front of Neji. Overhead, the clouds thickened and darkened with the pending storm. The circled tightened around them again.

Neji’s brows drew down as he looked at Itachi in disgust and announced,

“Hajime.”

* * *

Thunder rumbled from outside as the rain poured down, keeping Sakura home as she recovered. She hadn’t been expecting any visitors on such a day and had decided to relax in her most comfortable shorts and a tank top with a cup of tea as the thunder rolled in the background. 

Sakura looked up at the fleeting wisp of chakra that flared and disappeared from in front of her door. Carefully rising and unlocking it, she glared at the visitor before he pushed past her and entered her room, Sakura quickly locking up again behind him. They each cast their own privacy jutsu before Sakura opened her mouth, but Itachi beat her to it.

“I apologize.”

Sakura’s brow furrowed, her lips tightening to a thin line. 

Itachi removed his heavy, wet clan coat awkwardly and hung it inside the closet, leaving his sandals by the door. As he did so, Sakura noted the way his shoulder moved less gracefully, his steps slower and pained. Her brows furrowed. Outside the thunder and lightning storm lashed the small building with its furor while inside Sakura unleashed a torrent of frustration upon her team lead, things she could never have said before without risking suspension. But now, in her own home, she let it loose.

“I have answered every question, passed every test, offered every assistance just to be part of a village that used to be my own home, and you invaded my privacy and spread rumours about me like it was nothing to you!”

“I did.”

“If I was a malicious person, I would have done something by now, Itachi. It’s been months—more than a year, actually. The only things that have upset me in that time have been you hounding me, day after day. I nearly died saving your ungrateful life, and still, still you did that to me? In front of Neji and Tsunade? How dare you!”

“I did it for the village.”

“No,” snapped Sakura, suddenly in front of him, pointing at him angrily. “No, if you’d done any of this for the village, you would have kept it to yourself and then reported it higher. You would have been subtle and never let anyone know until the time was right. You would have had, at the very least, a modicum of professionalism. What you did, what you said, was personal, and I do not trust you. I don’t care if everyone goes on about how you’re the best ANBU captain the village has ever seen. A captain would never do that to a member of his own team.”

Itachi was silent as Sakura stalked him through her apartment. He paused in his tracks as he came to her living room, where Sakura had been drinking tea and watching a movie. His brow furrowed in confusion.

“I… You… don’t have company this evening?”

“Was I supposed to?”

“Neji and Sasuke mentioned…” 

Realization dawned on Itachi and he paled in front of Sakura, his hands stilling by his sides.

“Neji and Sasuke what? We had training earlier in the week to try a new combination technique, but then they had clan duties to attend to. I don’t invite men to my home. I went over this with Sasuke,” said Sakura, exasperated. “He even called your mom to come down so I would feel more comfortable.” She huffed a bit, shaking her head. “Your prick brother is more respectable than you are, ‘captain’.”

The silence stretched and Itachi couldn’t tear his eyes away from the single teacup sitting in its saucer on Sakura’s coffee table.

Tsunade. Neji. All their friends. They’d been right, and he’d been wrong. He’d been so very wrong, and had nearly ruined her reputation. How had he been so confused? How had he been so blind?

He reached out to steady himself on the modern, functional couch.

“May I sit?” Itachi finally asked.

“You can go,” said Sakura instead.

It was so direct it took Itachi aback for a moment before his shoulders slumped forward in defeat and he began laughing quietly to himself. Without waiting for Sakura’s permission, he let himself down onto the couch and let his head fall forward a moment. 

The situation was beginning to clear and make sense to him.

“I deserve that,” he admitted.

“More than that,” said Sakura.

“Hn.”

Sakura took a seat on the opposite end of the couch.

They waited in awkward silence a moment before Itachi let out a low breath.

“I was jealous.”

“Come again?”

“I was jealous of the attention you gave everyone else but me,” said Itachi quietly. “You sought Hyuugas for training, you went to the Senju for medical jutsu practice, you even called out Sasuke, my brother, to have dinner together… But you never invited me to do anything.”

Sakura stared at Itachi in disgust, her lips curving down.

“Not buying it,” she said.

“No,  _ I _ didn’t ‘buy’ it. How you had sprung up out of nowhere, with a history of dead ends and mystery. I never gave you the benefit of the doubt, and I was angry that everyone else did. They wanted you to be part of the village.”

“And you still don’t,” said Sakura quietly.

Itachi let out a soft breath. “If you had settled down with someone, got married or dated, it would almost have been easier. If you’d been a civilian, it would have been easier. If you’d been older or younger, less skilled, it would have been easier. But no, I don’t trust you. Because you’re too good at what you do, Sakura, and I can’t figure out which family member of mine trained you. And that’s dangerous for the clan. Our rank and role in the village are dependent upon our exclusive residency in Konoha. A rogue Uchiha is trouble all on its own, but a highly skilled one, one who could obviously train you to become what you are, is a threat to the village as a whole. I’ve managed to track down every single other member of my clan from the past forty years, and none of them had any connection to you.”

“I never claimed to be trained by an Uchiha,” said Sakura, uneasiness prickling through her. If Itachi had searched just a decade further back...

“You didn’t have to. It’s in everything you do, every move you make, every decision, every jutsu. You were trained by someone from the Main Line of the Uchiha, but short of going back to the founders or the interference of time travel, there’s no one who could have taken you in and sculpted you into the prodigy you are. Which tells me… somewhere inside you, you gained the knowledge of the Uchiha, possibly without realizing it yourself. Or you are part Uchiha, which means you are clan, and that would mean…”

Sakura watched Itachi’s Adam’s apple bob in his throat. The tingle of chakra in her fingers spread to her hand. What had Itachi discovered? Would she have to kill him and make her escape? After working so hard?

“Would mean what?” she asked carefully.

Itachi’s eyes never left Sakura’s. “In our clan—”

“Your clan—”

“—inter-clan courtship is encouraged, but not between Main Line branch members.”

Sakura froze. What? What was he talking about?   
She shook her head. “I don’t follow.”

Itachi’s expression turned almost pained, if amused. It was a subtle shift: his eyes widened, the lines around his mouth softened, the furrows beneath his eyes and down his cheeks sagged and a faint tilt to his lips helped his humanity break through his usual mask of indifference in a way Sakura had never noticed before.

Itachi’s voice was direct and gentle as he explained, his shoulders falling, “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since the moment I first laid eyes on you, Sakura.”

Heat flushed Sakura’s cheeks and her hands gripped her thighs sharply at the unexpected confession.

“You were an obsession. I hated it when you practiced with other men. I panicked and nearly abandoned our mission when I saw you go down in the forest. I was pitifully grateful when Sasuke mentioned your requirement for a chaperone when visiting male colleagues,” admitted Itachi. “It’s been on my mind a lot, actually.”

Her chest rose and fell quickly with her breaths, and Sakura focused on remaining calm. She had never imagined this scenario, and her thoughts and emotions were confused, conflicted.

“I’m not here to find a husband,” said Sakura. “That’s not why I came to the village.”

“Then why are you here? Why did you stay? There was nothing for you here. I made your life miserable,” said Itachi. “You could have left at any time. I would have hated it, and possibly hunted you down, but you could have left.”

Still shaking her head, Sakura’s laugh was weak as relief flooded her. “I came to find my home, Itachi. I lost everything else. I didn’t want to be a missing-nin, hunted for the rest of my life if I ended up in the Bingo Books. I want… I want to have roots.” The hurt and anger in her emerald eyes was clear as she added, “And you have worked tirelessly to prevent that. By your own admission, due to your personal obsession with me rather than any fault I committed.”

Clasping his hands together, Itachi nodded.

“Why did you refuse to let me decline the mission to Grass?” asked Sakura. “If you were so obsessed with me, why did you order me to participate in a mission like that?”

“Because I wanted you all to myself,” said Itachi.

Sakura froze.

The ‘Grass mission’ as she’d come to refer to it in her head was another bone of contention between them. It was an ANBU undercover mission offered to Sakura to infiltrate a high-end brothel in Grass to determine who the mastermind behind the scenes was. Too uncomfortable with the circumstances and lack of support, Sakura had initially declined the mission, which ANBU command had respected. Or so she thought; she had found out during her recovery that the mission had been assigned to her regardless of her answer, and that Itachi had been the one to override her. Due to her injuries and recovery period, the mission had been put on hold. Sakura was baffled that Itachi’s position had given him so much authority over her, and in light of their current circumstances, intended to fight the assignment tooth and nail. 

Hearing his confession, though, threw all her preconceived notions about him out the window. 

“That’s counterintuitive to the decision you made,” said Sakura evenly.

“It’s very simple,” said Itachi. “I wanted you all to myself for an extended period of time. I wanted to understand why I was so obsessed with you and why all other women have lost all appeal for me.” Itachi swallowed, clearing his throat. “There’s a wildness in me now that I struggle with, that I never had to understand before. It’s on alert when you’re near, and it longs for you when we’re apart. It’s deeply unsettled when you’re in any sort of distress, and it seeks your attention and approval when in your presence. When Sasuke mentioned the scents of the clan food vendors made you homesick, I went to buy each and every one, to try and figure out more about you. I even had Sasuke deliver them to you.”

Those had been Itachi, not Sasuke…?

“Itachi?”

“Hn?”

“You need professional help.”

Itachi paused. “I thought so, too. It didn’t go well.”

Sakura stared at him, exhausted.

“They recommended a leave of absence and an increased focus on clan succession planning.” Specifically, Sasuke had in fact suggested Itachi just go find any willing partner for a conjugal night or two, but Itachi was not about to share that with Sakura. He had also found that the suggestion had twisted his insides with guilt.

Too appalled for words, Sakura’s head fell back against her side of the couch.

“I can’t even…” she muttered.

Itachi waited until Sakura could lift her head once more to look at him.

“What is it you want from me, Itachi?” asked Sakura tiredly.

Itachi looked at Sakura, as if the answer should have been obvious, but also as if he was happy that she had shown interest and asked. The silent pause between them went on a half-beat longer before Itachi said, finally.

“You should be an Uchiha.”

Sakura’s heart skipped. Was he...

As egotistically as Itachi’s words were, they fit in a tiny, insecure hollow of Sakura’s heart that she had kept locked up for over a decade. It was the closest to a key that had ever fit inside her private wish. He had no idea, of course, but how devastatingly accurate he hit to her deepest, darkest fear and desire, all in one.

Itachi wasn’t the first to say those words to her; to imply that she should be part of the Uchiha clan. In a way, he was right.

Sakura remembered the early days when her foster father Madara had taught her Uchiha clan proprietary jutsu. She remembered the way he had taught her to walk up trees, across water, and even through the air. She remembered the pride in her foster father’s eyes as she blew her first fireball clear across a river. She remembered the times he’d said, mostly to himself, “If only…”, and suddenly felt lacking. 

But… Itachi could make her an Uchiha.

“What are you saying?” Sakura heard herself ask. She wasn’t entirely sure she knew what she was doing. The wildness Itachi had spoken of had taken hold of her in its taloned claws, sinking in deep. She hated him, but he was offering her something no amount of money could buy.

And then, there was her mission.

Join… the Uchiha? Her?

“A binding courtship,” said Itachi, leaning toward Sakura on the small sofa. It was more of a loveseat, with its shape. When he’d visited her in crow form, it had seemed so much larger. 

“A handfasting. To start at your discretion. If, after a year, you wish to leave the Uchiha, and there are no children born or expected of the union, you may dissipate the union. You can remain a citizen of Konoha. But, after a year of courtship to an Uchiha, if you wish to remain with the clan, and if you genuinely desire to set roots and start a family, raise your children as Uchiha, and still serve the Leaf, then you will be bonded in matrimony and will be considered an Uchiha and full member of the clan.”

The fluttering in Sakura’s chest nearly left her faint.

She could finally belong?

“When, though?” Sakura whispered, looking down at her cup to gain her bearings. This was too much, too soon, too emotional. “How… Who?”

“You could start tonight,” said Itachi. “If you so choose. Lie with a member of the Main Line and, both of you remaining faithful to each other for the year, swear fealty to the Uchiha and Konoha.”

Sakura swallowed, feeling lightheaded.

Lie with…

_ Oh Deidara, _ Sakura’s heart moaned.

“Who?” she breathed, looking into Itachi’s heavy-lidded eyes.

His warm, gentle hand lifted to Sakura’s throat and stroked along the apple of her cheek. Wisps of Sakura’s hair tickled them both and more heat rose, brightening her eyes and adding fetching colour to her complexion. As Itachi had mentioned earlier, and displayed now, he couldn’t take his eyes off Sakura. His gaze fell to her lips and Sakura’s stomach tightened as Itachi’s voice turned thick and hoarse.

“You have no idea what you do to me,” he said lowly.

The reverberations traveled between them, tightening the coil in Sakura’s stomach. It had been so long…

But Itachi?

“What do I do?” asked Sakura, conflicted. Her hands had lifted to Itachi’s broad shoulders as he turned to her, leaning over her as he brought her low onto her back on the sofa.

Leaning down, Itachi began nuzzling Sakura’s throat.

“Consent,” whispered Itachi, sending tingles down Sakura’s sensitized skin.

Her fingers tightening in Itachi’s clan shirt, Sakura felt her body’s response to his confidence building inside her, beginning to pulse. Closing her eyes, she felt Itachi’s weight hovering over her, his warmth and protective presence waiting for her, his kisses drugging her into submission like absinthe.

Her hips twitched when she felt Itachi’s fingers trailing down her sides to loosely settle on her skin in the gap between her skirt and shirt. But where before there had always been a teasing tongue to lap at her skin and tickle her, now there was possessive heat and patience.

Struggling for a second with the disconnect, Sakura lifted her head to rest against Itachi’s shoulder.

Itachi’s shoulder.

Not Deidara’s.

But Itachi could give her everything she wanted, everything she needed…

“I’m… I’m going to think it over,” said Sakura, as Itachi’s lips inched closer to hers. “But there’s been a lot to take in tonight. I don’t want to rush into this.” Sakura’s voice was heavy with want, and she didn’t try to hide it. Her eyes closed, she tried to catch her breath. “I want to be sure I’m not just reacting physically to you.”

“If you’d like to find out—,” began Itachi, lowering himself further between Sakura’s knees.

Sakura clamped her thighs tight and sunk her nails into Itachi’s back. He groaned softly but gently lifted himself off Sakura.

“Take whatever time you need,” said Itachi.

* * *

The next day was a mess of emotion and internal conflict for Sakura. Her missions, her responsibilities, her alliances, her heart and her loves, everything collided in a maelstrom that left her jittery and upset. When she swore viciously aloud upon spilling her morning tea, she knew she had to get her act together. She had to choose a path.

By nightfall, she had.

Sakura’s blood ran hot and thick inside her as she leapt across rooftops to the Uchiha District. It was close to midnight. The sky remained overcast, the moon hidden from view by the heavy clouds. It leant an unconscious wrongness to her actions she didn’t like and made her doubt herself, her decision. How much easier it would have been to have simply said yes the evening before, to have been able to blame her decisions on the heightened sexual tension and storm. Now she was left to her own devices and was choosing her path. She prayed it was the right one. 

When Sakura reached the Main House, she listened for the sound of guards and conversation, then leapt up to the window she sought. She knew where each member of the family slept, who kept to what wing of the manse. Now Sakura knew and used that information to her advantage. Had others done this for him before, she wondered as she knocked once, softly, revealing her chakra to get her intended’s attention.

Itachi immediately opened his window and invited Sakura in, closing it after her. He cast the hand signs for a privacy jutsu as Sakura stood before him, suddenly feeling a bit unsure of herself. She lifted her chin and willed herself stronger.

“I thought about what you said,” said Sakura.

“Should I get a chaperone?” Itachi asked.

It almost made Sakura laugh.  _ Not for this... _

“No,” said Sakura. Then she added more confidently, “No more chaperones.”

Understanding flickered in Itachi’s eyes and he summoned a clone to lock the door, his eyes remaining on Sakura. Then the clone slowly closed the window shade, leaving them in the quiet darkness.

When the clone went to the door to stand guard, Itachi walked to Sakura at last, and waited. He lit a small lamp before taking Sakura’s hand.

“I decided,” said Sakura. Her chest rose and fell in her excitement, but her focus was on Itachi’s handsome features as he drank her in. 

“What have you decided?” 

She couldn’t believe he was going to make her say it...

Looking up at him without an inch of hesitation, Sakura said, “Make me an Uchiha tonight.”

“I will make you an Uchiha _all_ night,” promised Itachi.

Sakura grinned and looked down at their hands. Itachi’s hand was warm and secure around hers, reassuring.

“Is there any paperwork?”

Itachi ran a hand up Sakura’s arm to her shoulder. “Yes, but not at this stage.”

The fluttering in Sakura’s stomach rose as Itachi’s touch changed, his fingertips ghosting across her neck and up into her hair.

“I heard about what you did,” whispered Sakura. “Thank you.”

The fingers in her hair slipped loose to massage the back of Sakura’s neck and she closed her eyes a moment, swallowing her moan of appreciation.

“I owed you a great deal more. In time, it will be rectified. Meanwhile, several of our colleagues took it upon themselves to defend you and suggest creative ways I could grovel for forgiveness.”

Sakura huffed, smirking. “You will have plenty of time to beg at my feet.”

Itachi’s fingers found the knots in Sakura’s back, kneading them to bring out Sakura’s soft moans and sighs. 

“Beg, hn?”

“Mmmm,” murmured Sakura, eyes closed as Itachi drew her closer and closer to him in his arms. Their chests pressed together, surprising Sakura pleasantly. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the thrill of intimacy Itachi’s scent gave her. Who else had ever been so close to him as this, in his arms, protected instead of in peril? Her heart flinched as she remembered another’s arms around her, not so long ago, inside the hollowed out tree in Konoha’s forests. The way she had rested her head against  _ his  _ chest.

“You’re so relaxed with me,” murmured Itachi with wonder.

“Of course I am. I didn’t understand what I’d done wrong before. You explained that it was you needing your own answers, not me, though. I understand now,” said Sakura, wrapping her arms around Itachi’s shoulders to wind around his neck and slowly pull his head down, their lips inches apart. “You don’t wish me harm. You wish for answers. I know why you do, but I don’t have them.”

“I still want answers,” murmured Itachi, leaning his head down to rest his forehead against Sakura’s.

“If you want to give this a shot, Itachi… You need to trust me. I don’t have any more answers to give,” said Sakura. “You take me as I am, or I walk.”

Sakura’s shrug was gentle but clear.

“I came to you. Do you rescind your offer?”

Closing his eyes, Itachi took a deep breath, his chest filling and pressing against Sakura’s as he considered.

After a half-beat, Sakura stroked Itachi’s hair, smiling to herself at the soft texture that, knowing him, was no doubt effortless. She added,

“I don’t enjoy casual sex. If that’s all you want, others can give you that—”

Itachi’s hands tightened against Sakura’s back, locking Sakura in place.

“I don’t.”

The soft exhale against her cheek had Sakura looking up at Itachi.

“You are the first woman to join me in my bedroom, Sakura.”

The pulse in Sakura’s ears beat harder at Itachi’s confession and Sakura’s mouth dried. Against her stomach, she felt the press of Itachi’s impressive interest, the pulse it gave off matching the rushing in her veins.

“I understand that I am not your first,” said Itachi with great humility, stroking Sakura’s cheek with his thumb. “But you will be mine. I see you for who you are, which is a formidable kunoichi with a mind of her own. One who will always do what’s best for those around her. I wish to be part of your life, and you to be part of mine.” His smile was small and just for her. “Starting tonight.”

Sakura’s voice caught in her throat.

“I am willing to start with a handfasting, but know that a year together isn’t my ultimate goal,” said Itachi.

“Itachi…”

“Do you accept?” asked Itachi, leaning down, his mouth a breath from Sakura’s.

_ We can make up for lost time when you get home… You and me… What do you think I’m saying, yeah... _

Searching Itachi’s eyes, Sakura found her answers.

“I do,” said Sakura, sealing her lips to his.  _ Deidara, forgive me. _

The hands threaded in Sakura’s hair shook as the kiss turned from a vow to an invitation, exploration to initiation.

“Sakura,” breathed Itachi between kisses. “Sakura… Sakura…”

Her heart swelling in her chest, Sakura gasped Itachi’s name, angling them towards his bed. His desperate words drugged her, his hands unwrapped her, his lips worshipped her. Sakura’s clothes fell to the floor, one by one, followed by Itachi’s as they stumbled into his bed, giggling as it bounced beneath their combined weight. Touching Itachi’s face, Sakura smiled lovingly at Itachi as he pulled Sakura’s knees up on either side of his hips. He kissed her nose, breathing hard as he looked between them and swallowed.

“Like this,” whispered Sakura, taking one of his hands between her legs and teaching him how she liked to be touched. The slickness soon spread and Sakura’s hips began moving with Itachi’s hands in encouragement. “That’s it, just like that… like…  _ ngh! _ ”

The sudden crest and crash of the wave surprised Sakura, leaving her trembling as Itachi watched her with awe and fixed intensity.

“I felt it,” he murmured. “Inside you.”

Sakura’s laugh was gentle and appreciative. “It usually takes a bit longer… Then again, you’re…”

Itachi lifted his brows. Then smirked.

Sakura tried to frown. “I’m never praising your performance again.”

The hint of canine revealed by Itachi’s smirk as he bent forward made Sakura’s heart skip. He, kissed the soft skin of Sakura’s tummy, then moved back and down, down, down, his hands pressing her hips down, her thighs wide enough for his shoulders to fit between—

“You relax,” said Itachi, kissing each of Sakura’s fingertips as he lifted her hands from his goal. Then he slid his hands beneath her hips, canted them to bring her closer to his mouth, and with a final smirk at Sakura, kissed her thoroughly, sliding his tongue along her—

The second wave hit faster than the first, and Sakura tensed before the lassitude washed through her, panting.

Itachi waited, easing off on his kiss.

Still trying to catch up to her racing heartbeat, Sakura released her grip on Itachi’s hair and glared at him.

“A little bit more and you’ll be properly warmed up,” Itachi remarked.

“You smug—”

“Hnnn?”

Sakura bit her lip as Itachi kissed around Sakura’s lips. She stroked Itachi’s long, loosened hair from his face. Her cheeks rosy and eyes shining, she shook her head.   
  
“No need for round three of that. Why don’t you,” she began, sliding down the bed. “Have a rest on your back,” she continued, gently pushing Itachi’s shoulder until he moved sinuously onto his back on the covers. Sakura straddled him, aligned them both and, with a small smile, slid him home inside her. “And enjoy the ride.”

Itachi’s arms immediately rose, his hands clenching on her thighs and preventing her from moving.

“A moment,” said Itachi, jaw stiff.

“Hmm?”

Itachi swallowed and glared at Sakura.

Sakura leaned down and kissed Itachi’s lips, clutching his shoulders until he relaxed beneath her.

Then she rode him, gently at first, teaching him restraint and care, love and tenderness, self-control and self-discipline as they aimed for their first shared release.

Itachi’s face was pained as Sakura slowed her hips to a crawl, rising and falling, watching his expressions change as he murmured Sakura’s name.

Smiling down at him, Sakura caressed Itachi’s brows. He looked up at her in surprise.

“I didn’t know it was like this,” he admitted, swallowing.

“It gets better with time,” said Sakura, winking.

The look on Itachi’s face, the boyish wonder, had her giggling.

“Ready?” asked Sakura, adjusting her position slightly. Her fingers dug into the covers by Itachi’s head.

Itachi nodded, then his head fell back as Sakura began thrusting down on him, hard. He moaned, his fingers digging into Sakura’s hips to drive her down harder.

The crest rose inside Sakura, winding tighter, as she began hitting just the right spot. Her eyes shut, her lips fell open, and she let out a surprised shout as she felt Itachi seal his lips over hers as he keened quietly, kissing her desperately as he suddenly stiffened beneath her. 

“Oh fuck, I'm coming,” Itachi moaned, trembling, as his release overwhelmed him. He exploded inside Sakura, holding her tight to his chest as he shook. His hips pumped several more times as he emptied his seed inside her, his arms never letting her go. Dropping his head down onto Sakura’s shoulder, his breath escaped him shakily.

Sakura, meanwhile, enjoyed her own, quieter, orgasm, her core milking Itachi with rhythmic squeezes and pumps. He had felt delicious inside her, neither too big nor too small, filling her in all the perfect ways she enjoyed without feeling overstretched or wanting. It had been over a year since she had enjoyed partnered sex, and what Itachi had lacked in stamina he had made up for with curiosity. She had a feeling that the more confidence he gained, the more intense their compatibility would become. It had her hungry for more before they finished their first round.

Their hearts pressed against each other, Sakura felt Itachi’s racing and smiled.

“You did it,” said Sakura, brushing her lips over Itachi’s cheeks.

Itachi’s laugh was choked and hoarse. He hugged Sakura to him tighter.

“Stay with me tonight,” Itachi said.

“You’re sure you won’t mind my walk of shame tomorrow?” teased Sakura.

Shaking his head, Itachi lifted his face to look Sakura in the eye.

“You're not a dirty secret. I would never be ashamed of you,” he said, before kissing her deeply. “I love you.”

The aftershocks of Sakura’s climax tightened. Itachi chuckled.

“I felt that, too,” he said.

Sakura smiled, relaxing in Itachi’s arms.

“We didn’t use protection,” said Itachi, stroking Sakura’s back as she settled against him. 

“Kunoichi use IUDs to prevent conception,” said Sakura.

“Hn.”

The silence lingered and Sakura understood Itachi was formulating questions.

“Speak up,” said Sakura when she felt Itachi tensing beneath her.

“For the handfasting, it is suggested you cancel your birth control,” said Itachi.

_Well fuck,_ thought Sakura.

“As you are in ANBU, however, I agree that you need to protect yourself,” added Itachi. “Perhaps we can speak with Tsunade about options that won’t interfere with your career.”

“Are we still going to be on the same ANBU team?” asked Sakura.

Itachi shook his head.

“I will be given a genin team upon the next Academy graduation. Neji will be taking over our team,” Itachi explained.

“You’re taking on genin?”  
  
“Ah,” said Itachi, lazily stroking Sakura’s shoulders. “I intend to transition to a role that is village-based now.”

“But… Why?” asked Sakura, confused.

“For our children,” explained Itachi. His voice was slowing as he began dozing off. “When you are ready, I want to found our family.”  
  
A wriggle started low in Sakura’s belly at Itachi’s words. Sakura wasn’t sure what the awkward curling in her stomach meant, whether it was guilt or revulsion or something else. But it twisted inside her a moment longer before settling again.

“You want children so soon?” asked Sakura, surprised. One of the first things she’d heard about Itachi, from the shinobi around her, was that he was a career nin first and foremost. His family had always been a close second, but he was driven in his pursuits for the village. Had that been wrong? Had he been considering transitioning long? Retiring?

“With you, I want everything,” said Itachi on a happy sign, eyes closed. There was a small smile on his lips.

A half heartbeat later, his faint snores could be heard. He’d fallen asleep in Sakura’s arms.

What would it take to turn this man against his village, Sakura had wondered, time and again. 

Now, she thought she may have the answer.

* * *

**TBC?**

**Author's Note:**

> AN: I don't have a set schedule for updating this fic.


End file.
